Cibrarp  of  Che  'theological  Seminary 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Delavan  L.  Pierson 

PN  \%%0 
r  q  s' 


A  GUIDE  TO 
RELIGIOUS  PAGEANTRY 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •  BOSTON  •  CHICAGO  •  DALLAS 
ATLANTA  •  SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO..  Limits® 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  *  CALCUTTA 
MKLBOURKB 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OP  CANADA,  Lac 

TORONTO 


SEP  201951 


A  GUIDE  TO 
RELIGIOUS  PAGEANTRY 


BY 


✓i 


MASON  CRUM 


FBOFESSOB  BELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  COLUMBIA  COLLEGE 


J12tto  gotk 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1923 


AIL  rights  reserved 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


Copyright,  1923, 

By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  printed.  Published  October,  1923. 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  k  Ives.  Company 
New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


TO 

THE  STUDENTS  OF 
COLUMBIA  COLLEGE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 


in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/guidetoreligiousOOcrum 


PREFACE 


The  Church  is  again  putting  its  hand  upon  the  drama 
that  the  truths  of  the  Bible  and  the  fundamentals  of 
religion  may  be  more  impressively  portrayed.  A  dis¬ 
tinguished  committee  of  American  churchmen  recently 
declared,  “There  has  been  an  increasing  tendency  of 
late  to  bring  the  dramatic  art  back  to  the  Church  and 
use  its  power  once  more  to  teach  the  truths  essential  to 
the  Redemption  of  the  world  as  did  the  priests  and 
friars  of  a  thousand  years  ago.” 

This  modest  book  is  sent  forth,  not  as  a  technical 
treatment  of  the  subject,  but  simply  as  an  introduction 
to  be  used  by  that  host  of  religious  workers  in  Churches, 
Church  Schools,  Kindergartens,  Settlement  Houses,  and 
other  religious  organizations,  who  have  as  their  primal 
task  the  education  and  inspiration  of  old  and  young  in 
the  fundamental  teachings  of  the  Bible. 

In  connection  with  a  course  of  study  in  Religious 
Pageantry  it  seemed  fitting  that  a  list  of  approved  pro¬ 
ductions  for  general  Church  use  be  catalogued,  and  this 
was  undertaken  in  spite  of  the  many  difficulties  that 
were  sure  to  arise.  Approximately  one  hundred  pub¬ 
lishers  in  this  country  were  communicated  with  and 
their  hearty  cooperation  made  the  volume  possible. 
The  Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  is  by  no 
means  an  appended  section  to  the  chapters  preceding, 
but  rather  the  chapters  are  appended  to  the  list,  as  the 
latter  was  conceived  first  and  the  writings  added,  that 
they  might  serve  as  a  guide  in  a  general  way  to  the 
subject. 

•  • 

Til 


viii  Preface 

One  of  the  first  difficulties  is  that  of  knowing  what 
to  leave  out.  From  the  standpoint  of  art  there  are 
many  dramas  that  would  he  omitted,  hut  in  religious 
pageantry  artistic  merit  cannot  be  the  sole  guide.  There 
are  little  Churches  and  little  Sunday  Schools  where  the 
chances  for  dramatic  development  and  artistic  aims 
have  been  meager.  For  these,  simple  productions,  often 
inartistic,  must  be  provided  until  bigger  things  may  be 
undertaken.  There  must  be,  therefore,  in  a  list  which 
is  to  be  serviceable  in  any  large  way,  a  variety  of  pro¬ 
ductions — some  good,  some  bad — bad  from  the  artistic 
standpoint.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the 
Church  is  primarily  interested  in  religion,  not  art. 

The  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  the  courtesy  of 
Professor  D.  D.  Peele  in  contributing  the  chapter  on 
the  History  of  Religious  Pageantry,  and  reading  criti¬ 
cally  the  entire  manuscript.  The  Abingdon  Press  co¬ 
operated  generously  in  granting  permission  to  use  help¬ 
ful  suggestions  from  one  of  the  pageants  of  C.  V. 
McCauley.  Permissions  to  reprint  were  courteously 
granted  by  Lyman  P.  Bayard,  the  Board  of  Education 
of  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention  and  the  Bureau  of 
Educational  Dramatics,  Community  Service,  Inc.  For 
helpful  suggestions  and  a  sympathetic  attitude  toward 
the  undertaking  the  writer  is  indebted  to  Mrs.  Donald 
Pratt,  Executive  Secretary  of  the  Commission  on 
Church  Pageantry  and  Drama,  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church. 


Columbia  College, 

Columbia,  S.  C. 


CONTENTS 


PAOB 

Preface . .  vii 

CHAPTER 

I.  Uses  of  Religious  Pageantry  and  Dra¬ 
matics  .  1 

Propriety  of  the  religious  pageant  in  the 
Church — The  problem  of  the  evening 
service  —  Easter  —  Thanksgiving  — 
Pageantry  in  teaching  Missions — The 
Sunday  School — Dramatized  Bible  sto¬ 
ries — Young  People’s  organizations — 
Playground  work  with  children — For¬ 
ward  movements  in  the  Church. 

II.  The  History  of  Religious  Pageantry  .  16 

The  medieval  cycle  pageant — The  popu¬ 
lar  interest  in  the  pageant — The  pageant 
— Old  Testament  unit — The  Birth  unit 
— The  Resurrection  unit — The  Pro¬ 
phetic  unit — Summary — The  origin  of 
the  mystery  plays — The  first  drama  in 
England — Its  growth — The  growth  of 
the  Birth  unit — The  growth  of  the  Old 
Testament — The  Morality — The  Moral¬ 
ity  illustrated — The  miracle  play — The 
miracle  play  illustrated — The  seculari¬ 
zation  of  pageantry — The  masque — The 
interlude — The  masque  still  embodying 
a  moral  motive. 


IX 


X 


Contents 


CHAPTUa  TAQT 

III.  The  Comm uk itt  Drama . 32 

Social  aspect  —  The  commercialized 
drama — Cultural  value — Historical  in¬ 
terests — Dramatics  in  colleges — Sugges¬ 
tive  list  of  plays  and  pageants  for  com¬ 
munity  use. 

IV.  Rural  Dramatic  Organization  ...  39 

Organizing  the  rural  drama — The  pa¬ 
geant — The  play  in  rural  districts — The 
Little  Country  Theatre — The  director 
— The  players — -Choice  of  plays — The  , 
Chautauqua — The  Country  Fair — Plan¬ 
ning  the  program — Lincoln’s  birthday — 
Valentine’s  day  —  Washington’s  birth¬ 
day — Arbor  day — Memorial  day — May 
day  —  Fourth  of  July  —  Labor  day  — 
Thanksgiving — Christmas. 

V.  How  to  Produce  a  Religious  Pageant  .  52 

Getting  together — The  Musical  Director 
— The  Property  Man — The  Electrician 
— How  shall  we  begin? — Choosing  the 
cast — The  groups — The  chorus — Dress 
rehearsal — Criticism. 

VI.  Costuming . 61 

Suggestions  for  Old  Testament  charac¬ 
ters-— Early  Hebrew  costumes — Pictures 
and  their  value — Suggestions  for  New 
Testament  characters — Girls  and  women 
— Boys  and  men — Footwear — Roman 
soldiers — Shepherds — Wise  men — The 
Rabbi — Missionary  costuming — Karen 
— China  —  Japan  —  India  —  Syria  or 
Arabia — Africa — Philippines. 


Contents 


xi 


CHAP  T  SB  PAG® 

VII.  Helps  from  Pictures — Where  to  Get 

Them . 76 


Reproductions  of  great  works  are  avail¬ 
able — Appropriate  picture  study — Par¬ 
tial  list  of  publishers  of  religious  pic¬ 
tures. 

VIII.  Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  79 

Plays  for  Boys  and  Girls 

Children 

Christmas 

Easter 

General  Community 
General  Religious 
Missions,  Foreign 
Missions,  Home 
Old  Testament 
Thanksgiving 

IX.  A  Few  Helpful  Books . 133 


A  GUIDE  TO 
RELIGIOUS  PAGEANTRY 


A  GUIDE  TO  RELIGIOUS 
PAGEANTRY 


CHAPTER  I 

USES  OF  RELIGIOUS  PAGEANTRY  AND  DRAMATICS 

RELIGIOUS  pageants  may  be  used  in  the  regular 
church  services  to  great  advantage  on  certain  oc¬ 
casions.  There  is  nothing  objectionable  in  their  use 
when  appropriately  given,  and  when  the  proper  subject 
for  presentation  is  selected.  While  the  paramount  mes¬ 
sage  in  the  church  service  comes  from  the  pulpit,  from 
God’s  messenger,  through  the  medium  of  the  spoken 
word,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  on  certain  occasions 
this  spoken  word  may  be  greatly  enforced  by  the  active 
participation  of  members  of  the  congregation  in  some 
simple  forms  of  pageantry. 

If  the  occasion  is  that  on  which  the  pastor  is  to  speak 
to  the  children  at  the  regular  preaching  hour,  and  the 
subject  is  the  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  there  is  no 
surer  way  to  give  emphasis  and  vigor  to  the  message 
than  through  a  brief  presentation  by  the  children  of 
this  beautiful  story.  In  this  way,  the  attention  of  little 
minds  is  riveted  upon  the  theme,  and  those  who  take 
parts  and  those  who  observe  receive  the  impression 
through  an  unusual  channel,  which  usually  means  that 
they  give  exceptional  attention.  This  method  lifts  out 

1 


2  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

of  the  rut  much  of  our  preaching  to  children,  and  sup¬ 
plies  a  reality  and  vitality  which  is  often  lacking  in 
the  reception  of  such  discourses.  Speaking  to  children 
is  one  of  the  fine  arts,  and  few  preachers  have  mastered 
it.  There  is  a  tendency  to  simplify  our  complex  the¬ 
ology,  and  impart  it  to  minds  which  we  conceive  to  be 
miniature  adult  minds.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that 
there  are  certain  well  defined  approaches  to  the  child’s 
mind,  and  it  behooves  the  teacher  or  preacher  of  religion 
to  study  assiduously  these  mental  processes  by  which 
our  religious  conclusions  are  appropriated  by  the  child. 

The  Problem  of  the  Evening  Service. — The  eve¬ 
ning  service  in  many  churches  is  a  problem.  It  is  a 
perplexing  one  to  many  preachers.  Where  are  the  peo¬ 
ple  ?  Why  do  they  not  like  to  come  to  the  church  ? 
Has  the  message  lost  its  appeal  ?  Do  people  come  to 
church  on  Sunday  morning  because  of  some  social  pre¬ 
dilections,  and  stay  away  from  the  evening  services 
because  there  are  more  interesting  things  to  do  at  other 
places  ?  These  are  the  disturbing  questions  which  pass 
through  the  mind  of  the  conscientious  preacher  or  lay¬ 
man  who  is  interested  in  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  Can  the  same  individual  digest  more  than  one 
regular  sermon  on  Sunday  ?  Cannot  the  evening  service- 
be  made  different  ? 

There  is  no  one  stereotyped  method  by  which  the 
gospel  message  must  be  delivered.  Jesus  put  into  the 
hearts  of  His  hearers  some  of  His  most  sublime  prin¬ 
ciples  in  simple  story  forms,  and  to-day  they  are  best 
understood,  not  in  abstract  language,  but  in  their  origi¬ 
nal  simplicity  and  picturesqueness.  The  writer  of 
these  words  cannot  soon  forget  the  tremendous  impres¬ 
sion  made  upon  an  evening  audience  by  a  religious 
presentation  in  which  young  men  and  young  women 
took  the  parts  of  Bible  characters  in  the  portrayal  of 


Uses  of  Religious  Pageantry  and  Dramatics  3 

the  Resurrection  and  the  impressive  events  in  the  clos¬ 
ing  scenes  of  the  earthly  career  of  the  Christ.  No  ser¬ 
mon  could  be  more  forceful,  more  reverent,  more  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  the  great  Sacrifice,  than  was  this 
pageant  acted  out  by  the  people  who  usually  sit  in  the 
congregation  and  listen,  or  not  listen,  as  is  often  the 
case. 

The  Christmas  Season. — The  Christmas  season  is 
a  time  of  festivities,  of  good-will  and  benevolence.  Too 
often  its  religious  significance  is  lost  in  the  holiday 
spirit.  Children  often  forget  what  Christmas  really  is, 
and  often  their  elders  give  little  attention  to  its  sacred¬ 
ness.  This  is  a  time  when  the  Gospel  message  for  the 
season  can  be  brought  to  the  hearts  of  the  congregation 
through  a  sane  and  sensible  use  of  pageantry.  It  is  the 
old  story  so  beautifully  told  by  St.  Luke,  but  many  will 
not  take  the  time  to  read  it,  and  ponder  its  significance 
to  the  race.  They  will  come  to  the  church  to  see  a 
pageant,  where  the  children  of  friends  and  relatives 
take  part.  Young  men  who  are  indifferent  about  their 
church  relations,  moreover,  often  take  an  active  part 
in  these  religious  festivities  and  through  them  are 
brought  into  a  more  vital  relationship  with  the  work 
of  the  Kingdom;  and  similarly,  the  young  women  of 
the  Church.  Here  they  find  a  pleasant  environment, 
and  tasks  that  they  can  do.  They  enter  into  the  work 
with  enthusiasm,  because  their  youthful  imaginative¬ 
ness  is  touched  and  thus  the  point  of  contact  is  made, 
which  enables  the  Church  to  grapple  their  souls  to  itself 
with  hoops  of  steel. 

There  are  many  beautiful  Christmas  pageants  which 
any  group  of  industrious  church  workers  can,  without 
professional  assistance,  do  all  that  is  necessary  to 
present  with  success. 

Easter. — There  is  no  religious  festival  which  lends 


4 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

itself  better  to  the  art  of  pageantry  than  that  of  Easter. 
Easter  pageants  may  be  given  with  fine  effect  out-of- 
doors.  Can  one  imagine  a  more  impressive  scene  than 
that  of  the  Resurrection,  produced  out  in  the  open 
among  scented  flowers  and  green  grass  in  the  spring? 
To  many  it  is  a  new  story  when  it  reaches  the  mind 
in  this  pictured  form.  It  is  full  of  dramatic  incidents ; 
the  women  go  to  the  tomb;  it  is  empty;  their  faces 
are  dejected;  Peter  and  John  make  their  appearance; 
the  truth  is  discovered — He  is  risen !  How  bright  is 
this  scene  in  contrast  with  the  gloom  on  Calvary ! 
Through  simple  dramatic  arrangements  the  import  of 
the  Easter  message  can  be  conveyed  in  a  direct  and 
newly  impressive  manner,  that  Christianity  is  victo¬ 
rious,  that  it  is  the  religion  of  victory  and  life. 

Thanksgiving. — One  of  the  impressive  holidays  of 
our  American  life  is  Thanksgiving  Hay.  To  every 
historically  thoughtful  American  this  day  has  a  signifi¬ 
cant  meaning.  Around  it  cluster  memories  of  our  fore¬ 
fathers  who,  though  crude  in  manners  and  customs, 
brought  to  this  country  a  keen  sense  of  the  divine.  This 
spirit  of  reverence  and  godliness  is  indicated  in  an  old 
letter  written  by  one  of  the  early  settlers  regarding  the 
reasons  and  motives  back  of  the  founding  of  an  incon¬ 
spicuous  Academy  for  the  education  of  youth,  Harvard 
University.  These  are  the  quaint  and  impressive  lines: 
“After  God  had  provided  necessaries  for  our  livelihood, 
reared  convenient  places  for  God’s  worship,  and  settled 
the  civil  government ;  one  of  the  next  things  we  longed 
for  and  looked  after  was  to  advance  learning,  and  per¬ 
petuate  it  to  posterity;  dreading  to  leave  an  illiterate 
ministry  to  the  churches,  when  our  present  ministers 
shall  lie  in  the  dust.”  Again,  the  college  charter  of 
1650  dedicated  the  new  institution  to  the  “advancement 
of  all  good  literature,  arts  and  sciences”  and  “the  educa- 


Uses  of  Religious  Pageantry  and  Dramatics  5 

tion  of  English  and  Indian  youth  ...  in  knowledge 
and  godliness.” 

Too  often  this  day  of  thanksgiving  is  made  a  day  of 
frolicking.  Men  and  boys  take  their  guns  and  go  on  a 
hunt.  The  day  is  spent  simply  in  having  a  good  time, 
with  never  a  thought  of  its  sacred  associations  and  its 
means  of  helpfulness.  Quite  often  a  union  service  is 
held  in  one  of  the  churches  with  but  a  small  part  of 
the  combined  membership  in  attendance.  Here  is  the 
chance  for  the  one  who,  as  both  patriot  and  Christian, 
is  interested  in  the  things  which  count  for  the  spirit 
life.  In  connection  with  another  religious  service,  there 
might  be  a  Thanksgiving  pageant,  given  by  one  church, 
or  it  may  be  made  a  community  undertaking  in  which 
all  the  churches  participate.  This  latter  plan  would 
serve  a  twofold  purpose:  the  religious  motive  of  the 
occasion  would  be  magnified  and  another  feature  of 
inestimable  value  would  be  the  revival  of  community 
spirit  and  a  feeling  of  unity  on  the  part  of  the  Christian 
people. 

Pageantry  in  Teaching  Missions. — The  mission¬ 
ary  forces  of  the  various  churches  have  been  quick  to 
sense  the  value  of  pageantry  in  presenting  facts  related 
to  Missions.  In  recent  years  Missionary  Societies  and 
various  related  organizations  have  put  out  more  produc¬ 
tions  dealing  with  Missions  than  any  other  department 
of  religious  endeavor.  They  have  realized  that  if  they 
are  to  give  the  lukewarm  clear-cut  conceptions  of  the 
work  of  missions  in  foreign  lands  they  cannot  afford  to 
overlook  the  art  of  pageantry.  Foreign  scenes  lend 
themselves  well  to  this  art.  The  quaint  costumes  of  the 
foreigner  make  a  strong  appeal  to  the  eye,  and  while 
the  congregation  looks  on  with  a  curiosity  and  human 
interest  the  spiritual  message  is  grasped,  and  the  great 
cause  of  Missions  advanced. 


0 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 


Instruction  in  Missions  through  the  art  of  pageantry 
makes  a  strong  appeal  to  the  children.  The  child  does 
not  think  in  terms  of  abstract  truth.  He  views  life  in 
the  concrete.  When  his  fellows  act  the  parts  and  por¬ 
tray  the  efforts  of  missionaries  as  they  labor  in  strange 
lands,  then  to  his  childish  mind  is  brought  the  message 
that  the  Gospel  was  not  meant  to  be  kept  at  home,  but 
to  be  shared  with  the  world.  There  is  no  more  impres¬ 
sive  way  to  teach  children  the  value  of  Missions  than 
through  carefully  chosen  pageants  and  dramatized  sto¬ 
ries  of  deeds  done  on  the  Mission  fields. 

During  the  Centenary  Celebration  in  Columbus, 
Ohio,  the  Methodist  Church  was  endeavoring  to  mag¬ 
nify  its  great  Missionary  program.  To  this  magnificent 
festival  was  brought  everything  known  to  heighten  the 
effect  of  the  importance  of  Missions  and  fittingly  com¬ 
memorate  the  birthday  of  this  movement  in  the  Metho¬ 
dist  Church.  Missionaries  from  many  lands  were 
there;  experts  on  the  subject  who  had  studied  Missions 
from  every  angle  were  there.  Men  of  national  and 
international  repute  spoke  to  the  crowds  who  visited 
“the  World  at  Columbus  A  But,  of  all  these  voices  that 
tried  to  tell  of  the  magnificent  work  of  a  century,  there 
was  none  that  spoke  louder  than  the  Wayfarer ,  the 
great  religious  pageant  of  the  Centenary  Celebration. 
So  popular  was  it,  that  it  was  engaged  for  presentation 
in  some  of  the  large  centers  of  the  country.  It  was  the 
high-water  mark  in  religious  dramatization. 

There  are  many  country  churches  “doing  their  best” 
to  present  the  great  cause  of  Missions,  but  the  people 
do  not  hear.  They  say,  “Let  charity  begin  at  home,” 
speaking  out  of  the  ignorance  of  their  hearts.  In  these 
districts  some  wide-awake,  conscientious  individual 
could  perform  the  work  of  a  revelation  by  bringing  be¬ 
fore  these  churches  the  activities  of  Missionaries 


Uses  of  Religious  Pageantry  and  Dramatics  7 

through  the  dramatic  art.  There  is  truly  a  pageant  for 
every  church.  That  is  to  say,  there  is  no  church  that, 
is  not  capable  of  putting  on  a  pageant  suitable  for  its 
needs.  The  Boards  of  Missions  of  the  various  churches 
have  these  pageants  and  dramas,  and  are  hungry  for  a 
chance  to  have  them  produced  in  every  nook  and  cor¬ 
ner  of  the  land.  It  is  well,  of  course,  to  begin  with  the 
simpler  ones,  and  if  these  are  successful,  more  elaborate 
productions  may  be  undertaken. 

The  Sunday  School. — To  remark  that  the  Sunday 
School  has  an  immensely  varied  and  difficult  task  is  but 
trite.  There  are  the  immature  minds  of  the  beginners 
at  one  end  of  the  scale,  and  at  the  other  are  the  mature 
natures  of  the  adults.  All  of  these  are  to  be  ministered 
to  and  trained  to  suit  their  respective  ways.  Only  the 
process  must  be  educative.  There  should  be  no  equivo¬ 
cation  on  this  point.  The  Sunday  School  is  a  teaching 
school.  Just  as  the  great  Teacher  “taught”  His  dis¬ 
ciples,  so  the  modern  Sunday  School  must  teach  the 
children  in  the  way  of  discipleship.  Therefore  every 
educational  method  and  practice  should  be  utilized 
to  put  into  the  child’s  mind  and  heart  the  principles 
of  the  Gospel  and  the  abundant  life.  Pageantry  makes 
its  peculiar  appeal  to  workers  who  have  as  their  charge 
the  spiritual  nurture  of  children.  The  child  is  natu¬ 
rally  dramatic.  Hu  thinks  in  imagery.  God  made 
him  thus.  The  wise  teacher  will  therefore  take  the 
child  as  he  is  and  use  these  natural  instincts  in  im¬ 
parting  to  his  life  the  nurture  and  training  he  most 
needs. 

The  writer  has  before  him  now  letters  from  teachers 
who  are  reaching  out  for  better  methods  by  which  their 
pupils  may  be  brought  in  closer  touch  with  the  Bible 
and  the  Christian  life.  All  these  letters  indicate  the 
gradual  expansion  of  the  teaching  function  of  the 


8 


A  Guide,  to  Religious  Pageantry 

church,  and  an  ever  enlarging  group  of  methods  for  the 
spiritual  development  of  children.  A  prominent  city 
pastor  writes,  “I  have  been  trying  out  religious  pag¬ 
eantry  during  the  past  year  or  more,  and  I  am  delighted 
with  the  results.  We  gave  a  simple  little  pageant  here 
last  Easter,  The  Resurrection  of  Peter ,  and  the  effect 
was  wonderful.” 

Dramatized  Bible  Stories. — Teachers  are  begin¬ 
ning  to  appreciate  the  value  for  children  of  dramatizing 
Bible  stories.  Queer  as  it  may  seem,  it  may  be  best 
for  the  children  to  make  their  own  dramatizations. 
Very  interesting  experiments  have  been  made  in  some 
of  the  most  efficient  church  schools.  In  these  the  sto¬ 
ries  are  told  to  the  children  and  they,  having  gotten  the 
situation  in  mind,  act  out  in  their  own  way  the  events  of 
the  narrative.  This  method  is  becoming  popular  with 
many  of  the  leading  teachers  of  children.  Elizabeth 
Erwin  Miller,  wffio  has  done  some  pioneer  work  in  this 
particular  field,  says :  “The  leader  encourages  freedom 
in  individual  interpretation,  yet  she  is  ever  keeping 
before  the  children  the  fact  that  they  are  trying  to  give 
a  true  portrayal  of  the  characters  or  conditions.  It  is 
often  valuable  to  have  a  discussion  of  individual  char¬ 
acters  for  the  purpose  of  securing  clear  ideas  concern¬ 
ing  them.  After  all  have  tried  various  parts  and  offered 
many  suggestions,  they  may  be  led  to  choose  that  inter¬ 
pretation  which  seems  most  adequate,  or  they  may 
work  out  together  the  interpretation  of  a  part  which 
will  involve  ideas  contributed  by  many.  After  the 
story  has  been  played  through  a  few  times,  each  child 
should  be  able  to  assume  any  character.  It  is  an  essen¬ 
tial  part  of  this  method  to  see  that  every  child  has  a 
different  part  each  time.”  Thus  it  is  that  children  learn 
by  doing.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  method 
is  not  directed  to  pleasing  an  audience.  Perhaps  it 


Uses  of  Religious  Pageantry  and  Dramatics  9 

would  be  better  to  have  no  audience.  The  beneficiaries 
of  such  a  performance  are  the  performers.  They  are 
studying,  through  instinctive  dramatization — not  enter¬ 
taining.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  the  process  of 
educating  children,  whether  in  arithmetic  or  religion, 
there  is  a  large  place  for  self-expression. 

Children  do  not  comprehend  cold  logic.  Abstract 
truth  to  a  child  is  but  jargon.  All  abstractions,  whether 
theological  or  other,  are  without  the  pale  of  his  experi¬ 
ence.  The  child's  mind  deals  with  the  concrete.  My 
own  little  girl  of  three  is  very  fond  of  her  new  shoes, 
and  takes  much  delight  in  showing  them  to  visitors. 
She  asked  very  seriously  the  other  dav  if  God  wore 

VI  VJ  V) 

shoes. 

The  child  knows  religion  only  in  personality*,  only  in 
action.  The  old  catechisms,  great  as  they  were  in  their 
theological  conceptions,  were  but  empty  sounding 
words  to  the  child.  The  writer  still  remembers,  when 
but  a  wee  lad,  how  cold  and  far  away  were  the  questions 
and  answers  found  in  a  little  booklet  known  as  the 
catechism.  The  name  was  enough  to  frighten  the  aver¬ 
age  child.  And  yet,  these  theological  conclusions  were 
put  into  tiny  hands,  and  tiny  minds  tried  to  do  some¬ 
thing  with  them.  Alas !  the  men  who  wrote  the  cate¬ 
chisms  could  give  but  vague  answers  to  many  of  the 
questions  asked,  and  if  they  were  required  to  explain 
some  of  the  answers,  they  would  doubtless  find  great 
difficulty. 

The  chi  Id's  .^religion  is  largely  symbolic.;  he  must  see 
it  in  terms  of  human  life.  Jesus  is  the  great  friend 
of  children :  God  in  terms  of  human  life.  They  under¬ 
stand  ITim  because  He  is  a  personality,  human  in  His 
manifestations  as  well  as  divine.  And  for  this  reason, 
also,  is  the  Christ  real  and  warm  to  the  grown-up  heart. 
The  goodness,  righteousness,  mercy,  and  purity  of  God 


10  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

may  be  difficult,  of  comprehension  until  we  find  it  trans¬ 
lated  into  human  form. 

Such  conceptions  as  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man  are  but  vain  words  to  the  boy  or 
girl  of  early  years,  but  when  the  story  of  the  Good 
Samaritan  is  acted  out  by  these  little  folk,  they  know 
most  genuinely  who  the  unfortunate  man’s  neighbor 
is :  they  then  understand  brotherhood,  because  they  see 
it  in  human  life.  To  these  little  people,  the  elementary 
forms  of  pageantry  and  dramatized  Bible  stories  are 
great  helps  in  conveying  the  truths  of  the  Christian  re¬ 
ligion  and  of  God. 

Young  People’s  Organizations. — One  of  the  prob¬ 
lems  that  perplex  pastors  and  Christian  workers,  is  the 
matter  of  keeping  alive  the  young  people’s  organiza¬ 
tions.  As  one  approaches  maturity,  there  is  a  tendency 
to  fall  away  from  things  religious,  substitute  for  the 
church  service  and  the  Sunday  School  interests  that 
appear  to  appeal  more  strongly  to  vigorous  youth.  But 
this  should  not  be  the  case.  Religion  makes  its  appeal 
to  youth  also,  provided  we  do  not  expect  youth  to  play 
the  role  of  middle-age.  The  religion  of  youth  ex¬ 
presses  itself  in  a  way  which  is  different  from  that  of 
maturity.  And  there  is  no  reason  for  questioning  its 
genuineness.  Its  devotion,  enthusiasm,  and  sincerity 
are  as  valid  as  the  devotion,  enthusiasm,  and  sincerity 
of  older  people.  Grown  people  frequently  make  the 
mistake  of  measuring  the  religious  experience  of  young 
people  by  contrasting  it  with  their  own  to  its  disadvan¬ 
tage.  This  is  wrong.  The  innate  vigor  of  youth  ex¬ 
hibits  itself  in  religion  as  much  as  in  other  departments 
of  life. 

It  is  reasonable,  then,  to  expect  that  young  people’s 
organizations  should  make  use  of  every  device  tliat  will 
bring  out  the  kind  of  religion  natural  to  young  men 


Uses  of  Religious  Pageantry  and  Dramatics  11 

and  young  women.  The  means  and  methods,  of  course, 
are  varied.  Much  common  sense  and  sympathy  for 
youth  is  necessary  to  the  leader  who  can  perform  this 
difficult  task.  One  of  these  means  is  pageantry  and 
dramatics  in  religious  themes.  Young  people  like  to 
act.  In  religious  plays  they  act  the  parts  of  men  and 
women  of  the  Bible;  they  actually  live  these  parts  for 
the  time,  and  are  helped  thereby.  ~No  youth  can  absorb 
the  story  of  the  Resurrection  in  which  he  is  playing  a 
part,  and  not  have  it  leave  its  mark  on  his  soul. 

The  Epworth  League,  the  B.  Y.  P.  U.,  the  Christian 
Endeavor,  and  all  young  people’s  societies  can  utilize 
the  art  of  pageantry  to  religious  ends  in  their  programs. 
The  writer  recalls  that  one  of  the  most  interesting  meet¬ 
ings  in  one  of  the  above  mentioned  societies  was  on  the 
occasion  of  the  presentation  of  a  simple  pageant  which 
carried  with  it  a  conspicuous  religious  truth.  The  house 
was  full  on  this  occasion,  which  was  not  alwrays  the 
case. 

These  organizations  often  undertake  some  special  re¬ 
ligious  work,  such  as  a  mission  project  or  financial 
drive.  It  may  be  well  to  mention  in  this  connection 
that  the  Epworth  Leaguers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  are  supporting  entirely  the  missionary 
work  in  Africa  of  that  church.  One  of  the  surest  ways 
in  which  they  can  present  this  great  work  to  the  young 
people  or  their  constituency  is  through  the  art  of 
pageantry. 

In  young  people’s  organizations  there  is  also  the  prob¬ 
lem  of  the  social  evening.  So  often  there  is  nothing 
much  to  do.  What  can  we  have  for  entertainment? — * 
this  is  the  question  always  asked.  Too  frequently  the 
matter  is  settled  in  the  usual  way,  and  the  same  old 
round  is  gone  over  again  and  again.  On  such  occasions 
some  form  of  dramatics  is  entertaining,  and  may  be 


12  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

very  inspiring  and  helpful.  There  are  the  community 
dramas  and  pageants,  all  with  high  ideals  of  commun¬ 
ity  life  and  cooperation.  There  are  the  missionary 
appeals,  the  various  philanthropic  opportunities  and  a 
host  of  general  themes,  all  of  which  will  appeal  strongly 
to  the  interest  and  imagination  of  young  people,  and 
fill  their  social  gatherings  with  high  ideals  of  life  and 
of  Christian  benevolence. 

Some  of  the  most  beautifully  rendered  pageants  are 
those  produced  out-of-doors.  The  leader  of  young  peo¬ 
ple  has  this  as  a  great  lever  at  his  command  in  holding 
the  attention  of  youth.  Young  people  like  life  out  in 
the  open.  Afternoons  or  evenings  may  be  spent  profit¬ 
ably  under  the  trees  portraying  high  and  noble  scenes 
depicted  in  the  Bible.  Young  women  take  great  pride 
in  playing  the  part  of  the  beautiful  and  brave  queen 
Esther.  There  is  joy  in  being  Rebekah  or  Ruth  or 
others  of  Old  Testament  fame  and  virtue.  Young  men 
equally  enjoy  the  parts  they  play  in  posing  as  Samson, 
David,  Amos,  Elijah  or  others.  In  these  exercises 
they  imbibe  the  true  spirit  of  the  Scriptures  and  the 
sacred  Word  becomes  more  real  than  ever  before.  To 
miss  the  opportunity  of  presenting  some  Bible  story  in 
the  open  is  to  miss  one  of  the  biggest  things  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  young  people’s  organizations. 

Playground  Work  with  Children. — Plavground 
instructors  are  making  good  use  of  the  dramatic  art  in 
teaching  children.  The  playground  furnishes  unlimited 
opportunity  for  this  form  of  religious  instruction.  At 
Lake  Junaluska,  Yorth  Carolina,  one  of  the  most  inter¬ 
esting  events  of  the  religious  season  is  the  little  pageant 
or  play  that  is  given  by  the  children  under  the  direction 
of  a  competent  playground  instructor.  They  take  Moses 
in  the  bulrushes  or  some  such  story  that  fires  the  child’s 
imagination,  and  makes  him  want  to  know  more  of 


V 


Uses  of  Religious  Pageantry  and  Dramatics  13 

these  wonderful  stories  of  wonderful  men  and  women. 
Many  Bible  stories  for  children  have  been  dramatized 
by  competent  teachers ;  there  is  a  number  of  books  of 
them,  several  of  which  are  described  in  the  appended 
list  of  pageants.  Children  can  do  readily  The  Good 
Samaritan,  Paul  and  the  Jailer,  The  Story  of  Little 
Samuel,  The  Story  of  Joseph,  The  Story  of  Esther,  and 
a  score  of  others. 

Forward  Movements  in  the  Church. — The 
Churches  are  beginning  to  realize  the  importance  of 
pageantry  in  presenting  to  the  public  the  aims  and  pur¬ 
poses  of  the  great  forward  movements  which  have  been 
conspicuous  in  Protestant  Churches  in  recent  years. 
Among  the  pioneer  movements  on  a  large  scale  was  the 
Centenary  Celebration,  a  joint  undertaking  of  both  the 
Northern  and  Southern  branches  of  the  Methodist 
Church.  One  of  the  outstanding  features  in  graphic 
representation  of  the  aims  and  purposes  of  this  cele¬ 
bration  was  the  missionary  pageant.  Mention  has  al¬ 
ready  been  made  of  the  Wayfarer  and  its  marked  suc¬ 
cess.  There  were  other  pageants  on  a  smaller  scale 
which  served  a  valuable  purpose  in  presenting  this  un¬ 
dertaking. 

Other  churches  have  been  using  pageantry  and  dra¬ 
matics  in  a  similar  fashion,  to  present  their  needs.  Suf¬ 
fice  it  to  mention  one  other,  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  which  has  in  the  last  few  years  reaped  an  abun¬ 
dant  harvest  in  religious  instruction  through  the  use  of 
this  art.  A  Commission  on  Church  Pageantry  and 
Drama  was  appointed  and  had  as  its  task  the  selection 
of  a  pageant  suitable  for  use  in  the  churches  which 
would  adequately  present  the  cause  of  the  general  for¬ 
ward  movement  in  all  lines  of  the  Church,  both  spir¬ 
itual  and  material.  This  Commission  has  also  pub¬ 
lished  a  valuable  list  of  pageants  and  plays  suitable  for 


14 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

religious  needs.  The  Commission  chose  a  very  simple 
but  effective  production,  “Advance  the  Line,”  and  it 
was  given  with  great  success  throughout  the  land.  The 
aims  of  this  group  are  so  well  formulated  in  the  intro¬ 
duction  to  this  chosen  drama  that  I  will  quote  several 
paragraphs.  The  Commission  wrote  as  follows: 

“Religious  Drama  played  an  important  part  in  the 
Nation-wide  Campaign  last  year.  Reports  received 
indicated  that  over  one  thousand  parishes  presented  the 
pageant,  The  Builders  of  the  City  of  God ,  and  that  the 
pageant  served  the  purpose  of  attracting  a  large  audience 
which  was  impressed  with  the  worth  and  vitality  of  this 
great  cause  of  the  Church.  The  campaign  was  advanced 
by  the  reverent  use  of  the  drama. 

“During  the  present  year  interest  and  activity  in 
religious  pageantry  and  drama  have  increased,  particu¬ 
larly  among  our  parishes.  The  Department  of  Reli¬ 
gious  Education  has  recognized  this  development  and 
from  the  Presiding  Bishop  and  the  Council  has  secured 
the  authority  to  create  a  Commission  on  Church 
Pageantry  and  Drama  to  study  the  problem  of  educa¬ 
tional  dramatics,  offer  constructive  programs  and  in 
general  advance  the  intelligent,  artistic  and  consecrated 
use  of  the  drama  in  our  churches. 

“At  the  outset  the  Commission  felt  that  its  first  duty 
was  to  aid  in  some  way  the  nation-wide  campaign.  A 
pageant  contest  was  announced.  Eifty-six  original 
manuscripts  were  received  representing  contestants  in 
seventeen  states.  The  Commission,  after  giving  critical 
consideration  to  all  the  pageants  offered,  awarded  the 
prize  to  the  author  of  ‘ Advance  the  Line.’  The  pag¬ 
eant  will  be  found  to  meet  the  important  conditions  of 
the  confest  which  called  for  a  text  designed  to  emphasize 
the  extension  of  the  work  of  the  nation-wide  campaign ; 
make  provision  for  the  participation  of  the  clergy,  choir 


Uses  of  Religious  Pageantry  and  Dramatics  15 

and  congregation ;  be  suitable  for  presentation  in  the 
church  and  not  exceed  thirty  minutes  in  length.’’ 

It  is  well  known  to  the  student  of  Church  history 
that  the  giving  of  miracle  plays,  moralities  and  pageants 
in  the  chancel  of  the  Church  is  an  ancient  custom  and 
that  such  presentation  can  be  given  with  a  simplicity, 
a  dignity  and  a  reverence  that  stirs  the  beholder  and 
inspires  him  to  do  more  for  Christ  and  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGIOUS  PAGEANTRY  A 

THE  Medieval  Cycle  Pageant. — If  you  would 
know  what  a  medieval  pageant  was  like,  you  must 
take  a  long  journey.  We  must  go  from  the  age  of  sci¬ 
ence  into  the  age  of  credulity ;  out  of  an  age  of  realism 
into  one  of  great  imagination ;  from  materialism  to 
romance.  Our  journey  will  take  us  past  the  Puritanism 
of  Milton,  through  the  golden  age  of  Elizabeth,  and 
beyond  the  magnificence  of  Henry  VIII.  The  old  Eng¬ 
land  we  shall  visit  is  England  just  emerging  from 
‘‘faery  e.”  Indeed  there  are  some  fairies  and  witches 
still  left  when  biblical  pageantry  is  at  its  height.  The 
people  seem  simple  to  us  sophisticated  ones,  but  we  are 
living  in  a  progressive  age.  Their  homes  are  not  sani¬ 
tary;  the  family  live  stock  share  the  quarters  of  their 
owners ;  people  eat  with  their  lingers.  But  these  things 
do  not  worry  them.  They  are  concerned  more  about 
the  gay  pleasures  of  May  Hay,  feasts,  fairs,  and  wakes. 
On  such  occasions,  singing  and  dancing,  wooing  and 
winning,  they  lead  right  merry  lives. 

Tiie  Popular  Interest  in  tile  Pageant. — And 
with  it  all  they  are  fond  of  the  dramatic.  And  the 
drama  as  yet  is  bound  up  with  the  church  or  confined 
to  biblical  themes,  as  indeed  are  the  lives  and  thoughts 

1  This  chapter  written  by  Dean  D.  D.  Peele  of  Columbia  College 
by  special  request  of  the  author.  Professor  Peele’g  intimacy  with 
medieval  literature  makes  this  writing  specially  appropriate. 

16 


17 


The  History  of  Religious  Pageantry 

of  the  people.  The  wandering  friars  have  been  among 
them,  preaching,  cajoling  and  begging.  The  priest  is 
everywhere  ministering  to  the  flock.  He  is  well  thought 
of  because  of  his  services ;  and  besides,  he  represents  a 
church  that  controls  vast  wealth — wealth  that  is  to  make 
Henry  VIII  magnificent  and  luxurious  a  century  hence. 
John  Wycliffe  has  preached  here — has  preached  a 
strange  doctrine  without  the  support  of  powerful  Home, 
and  some  have  believed  what  he  taught.  His  fervent 
followers,  the  Lollards,  may  be  met  here  and  there  still, 
preaching  things  that  make  the  sleek  priests  frown.  As 
a  result,  these  joyous,  happy  people  are  deeply  inter¬ 
ested  in  religious  matters.  Their  feasts,  festivals,  fairs, 
and  merry-making  generally  center  about  a  religious 
motive. 

To  see  this  England  at  her  best  we  must  attend  one 
of  these  occasions.  Let  it  be  a  festive  one  in  a  typical 
English  town.  It  may  be  some  thriving  center  like 
Chester,  or  York.  Bring  your  lunch  and  join  the 
throng,  for  the  thoroughfares  are  crowded,  and  all  are 
going  our  way,  prepared  to  spend  the  day.  The  town 
folk  are  required  to  be  present,  and  the  Pope  has 
granted  a  thousand  days  of  indulgence  to  all  who  peace¬ 
fully  attend.  Imagine  a  town  of  wooden  houses,  nar¬ 
row  streets,  pretty  maids,  rollicking  gallants,  plenty  of 
beer  and  no  prohibitionists,  crowded  for  a  fair  day  and 
you  will  not  miss  the  picture  far.  In  lieu  of  con¬ 
fetti,  apple  cores,  skins  or  other  refuse  is  thrown  at 
passers-by. 

But  we  came  to  see  the  pageant :  so  did  everyone 
else.  They  came  to  see  the  pageant  as  we  have  always 
gone  to  our  State  fair  to  see  the  Midway.  They  ex¬ 
pect  other  things  incidentally  but  the  pageant  is  “the 
thing.”  Besides,  this  town  has  a  number  of  progres¬ 
sive  guilds,  who  are  proud  of  their  organizations.  The 


18 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

town  also  is  proud  of  these  progressive  groups  of  citi¬ 
zens.  These  guilds  have  produced  one  of  the  best 
pageants  in  all  England,  and,  as  was  announced  by 
heralds  yesterday,  it  will  be  shown  to-day.  We  are 
lucky  to  be  here.  Shall  we  try  for  a  reserved  seat  ?  No 
indeed.  Sit  right  down  here.  This  is  a  popular  street 
corner.  That  banner  across  the  street  indicates  that 
the  pageants  will  stop  here.  Sit  down  and  let  Mid¬ 
way  come  to  you. 

The  Pageant. — The  first  of  the  pageants  started 
from  the  abbey  early  in  the  day  and  is  now  approaching. 
It  is  on  wheels  and  is  drawn  by  horses.  It  contains  two 
platforms,  one  smaller  and  above  the  other,  supported 
by  timbers.  A  young  man  and  a  maid  are  on  the 
lower  one ;  on  the  upper  are  an  old  man  and  a  lad  with 
wings.  The  vehicle  stops  directly  in  front  of  us  and 
we  notice  placards  announcing  that  the  lower  deck  is 
Eden  and  the  higher  heaven.  We  know  the  woman  is 
Eve,  when  she  gives  the  youth  a  bite  of  the  apple  she  is 
eating.  They  talk  earnestly  about  the  command  that 
they  should  not  eat  the  fruit.  The  old  man  with  the 
long  beard  is  let  down,  and  the  two  hide  behind  some 
conveniently  placed  boughs.  The  long  bearded  one,  im¬ 
personating  God,  calls  the  two  out  from  their  hiding 
place,  reprimands  them,  and  is  windlassed  back  into 
heaven.  The  angel  is  lowered  and  drives  them  off  the 
platform,  and  the  first  chapter  of  the  great  pageant  is 
over.  Adam  and  Eve  get  back  into  place,  the  angel 
goes  back  to  heaven,  and  the  vehicle  moves  on  to  the  next 
designated  street  corner. 

Old  Testament  Unit. — Scarcely  has  this  group 
departed  when  another  comes  and  stops  in  the  place 
vacated  by  Adam  and  Eve.  This  time  there  is  only  one 
platform :  its  furniture  is  a  mounted  door  and  a  spin¬ 
ning  wheel.  An  old  man  and  his  wife  are  presented. 


19 


The  History  of  Religious  Pageantry 

She  is  spinning  and  they  are  clearly  dissatisfied  with 
each  other.  Noah  is  trying  to  persuade  Mrs.  Noah  to 
go  into  the  Ark,  but  she  has  no  confidence  in  his  pre¬ 
diction  of  a  great  rain  and  will  not  go  in.  The  more 
he  remonstrates,  the  more  impatient  she  becomes  with 
his  fanaticism.  It  begins  to  rain;  and  in  desperation 
Noah  seizes  Mrs.  Noah  in  his  arms  and  rushes  through 
the  door  into  the  Ark  just  in  time  to  save  her  from  the 
flood. 

Thus  pageant  after  pageant  moves  past,  producing  in 
dramatic  form  a  series  of  scenes  from  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment,  each  foreshadowing  some  phase  of  the  great  mis¬ 
sion  of  the  coming  Messiah,  and  each  exhibiting  in 
small  details  the  author’s  sense  of  humor  or  his  feeling 
for  pathos  or  realism.  Isaac’s  appeal  to  Abraham  on 
the  mountainside  is  one  of  the  most  affecting  passages 
in  eariy  English  literature,  and  the  behavior  of  Balaam 
can  be  grouped  with  the  obstinacy  of  Mrs.  Noah  as  fur¬ 
nishing  a  good  illustration  of  the  crude  sense  of  hu¬ 
mor  shown  in  the  Old  Testament  section  of  the 
pageantry. 

The  Birth  Unit. — After  the  portrayal  of  the  se¬ 
ries  of  Old  Testament  situations,  there  follow  imme¬ 
diately  crude  scaffolds  or  platforms  on  which  are  en¬ 
acted  the  tender  scenes  grouped  about  the  birth  of 
Christ.  There  are  Mary  and  Joseph  with  the  infant  in 
the  manger  receiving  the  gifts  of  the  wise  men.  The 
incident  of  the  shepherds  is  presented  with  some  elab¬ 
oration.  The  pageant  presents  the  front  of  a  shepherd 
home,  with  the  owner  attending  a  crib.  Shepherds 
come  in  search  of  a  lost  sheep.  Their  curiosity  is 
stirred  by  the  sight  of  the  crib.  Upon  being  questioned 
the  shepherd  declares  there  is  a  baby  in  the  crib.  They 
are  surprised,  and  insist  upon  seeing  it.  In  spite  of 
his  protests,  friends  remove  the  blanket  and  discover 


20 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

the  lost  sheep.  They  seize  the  offender  and  toss  him 
in  the  blanket.  While  thus  engaged  they  hear  the 
song  of  peace  sung  by  angels — little  boys  on  the  upper 
platform,  wearing  wings,  and  singing  in  soprano  voices. 
The  party  breaks  up  to  go  in  search  of  the  infant  Christ. 
Later  the  flight  into  Egypt  is  pictured,  followed  by 
Herod's  rage  at  his  failure.  This  last  incident  made 
a  deep  impression  on  the  English  mind  as  well  it  might. 
The  people  enjoyed  Herod’s  plight.  His  anger  was 
magnified  to  make  him  a.  clown,  in  his  rage.  He  left 
the  pageant  and  roared  throughout  the  throng  congre¬ 
gated  at  the  street  corner,  taking  the  pelts  and  jibes 
of  any  who  might  be  moved  to  antagonize  him.  It  was 
of  this  that  Hamlet  was  thinking  when  he  coined  the 
phrase  “Out-Herod  Herod”  to  describe  the  work  of 
a  raging  actor.  The  section  of  the  pageantry  centering 
about  the  birth  of  Christ  usually  closed  with  the  visit 
of  the  youth  to  the  temple,  and  would  probably  close 
there  on  the  day  of  our  imaginary  visit  to  the  English 
village. 

The  Resurrection  Unit. — But  immediately  would 
succeed  the  triumphal  entry  of  the  Messiah  into  Jeru¬ 
salem  with  the  hosannas  and  spreading  of  palm  leaves. 
This  series  is  simply  Oberammergau  simplified,  each 
scene  being  presented  in  a  separate  pageant,  on  a  sep¬ 
arate  platform,  and  with  unchangeable  setting.  The 
three  trials  of  Christ,  the  death  and  burial,  Mary  at  the 
tomb,  Peter  and  John’s  appearance  at  the  tomb,  various 
appearances  of  Christ  after  the  Resurrection,  including 
the  walk  to  Emmaus,  His  ascension  to  heaven — these 
scenes  each  in  turn  are  presented  as  we  watch  from  our 
place  of  vantage,  and  each  in  turn  moves  on  to  be 
reenacted  at  another  street  corner,  and  to  give  place  to 
the  next  in  order. 

The  Prophettc  Unit. — By  this  time  it  is  well  in 


21 


The  History  of  Religious  Pageantry 

the  afternoon.  We  have  had  our  lunch  and  are  perhaps 
tired,  but  the  pageantry  is  not  over.  Without  a 
break  in  the  steady  stream  that  has  flowed  past  all 
day,  we  recognize  a  new  series,  this  one  based  upon 
scenes  foretold  as  preceding  and  accompanying  the  end 
of  the  world.  The  hated  Anti-Christ  is  presented  in 
his  fight  with  Christianity,  and  receives  the  taunts  and 
jeers  of  the  spectators.  This  series  closed  with  a 
pageant  that  made  a  wonderful  impression  upon  the 
English  mind.  It  set  forth  the  J  udgment  Day. 
Heaven  is  as  usual  the  upper  platform  of  the  double¬ 
decked  vehicle.  Earth  is  the  lower  deck;  and  at  the 
back  of  this  lower  stage  is  a  great  mouth,  open  wide 
and  red.  This  is  hell-mouth.  The  devil  comes  out 
with  a  fork  and  drives  the  unfortunates  into  this  hor¬ 
rible  aperture,  while  the  blessed  ascend  into  heaven. 
This  scene,  capable  as  it  is  of  being  worked  into  one  of 
great  awe  and  terror,  was  always  provocative  of  much 
humor,  and  great  indignation  was  heaped  upon  the 
devil  by  the  informal  crowd  before  whom  he  acted  his 
part. 

Summary. — If  the  reader’s  imagination  has  grasped 
the  big  conception  of  the  whole  story  of  sacred  history, 
broken  up  into  four  main  units — The  Old  Testament, 
the  birth  scenes,  the  death  scenes,  and  the  prophetic 
scenes — and  these  units  broken  again  into  dramatic  situ¬ 
ations,  staged  and  moving  in  a  great  procession,  from 
place  to  place,  through  a  medieval  city,  he  has  a  fair 
conception  of  what  medieval  pageantry  was,  in  its  most 
elaborate  form,  and  at  its  best. 

The  production  of  these  pageants  was  before  festive, 
therefore  variegated,  crowds.  The  dignitaries  of  the 
city,  of  the  church,  and  of  the  guilds  were  dressed  in 
their  gayest  liveries  and  extreme  formality  was  pre¬ 
served  in  their  ranks.  But  the  great  mass  of  the  people 


99 
a  a 


A  Guide  tu  Religious  Pageantry 

was  surprisingly  informal.  Liberties  were  taken  with 
the  characters  ad  libitum.  Adam,  Balaam,  Mrs.  Noah, 
Herod,  the  devil  and  others  were  pelted  with  refuse 
or  jeered  at  or  commended  as  the  crowd  chose.  In¬ 
deed,  until  after  Dryden’s  time  an  actor  was  freely 
spoken  to  from  the  audience.  The  speech  of  Hamlet  to 
the  murderer  in  the  play  within  the  play,  reflects  a  cus¬ 
tom  of  Elizabethan  theatergoers. 

Such  a  series  as  has  been  described  was  usually  pro¬ 
duced  by  guilds  or  organizations  of  artisans.  The 
medieval  Latin  name  for  such  an  organization  was 
mislerium:  hence  such  a  series  was  called  a  mystery 
cycle. 

The  Origin  of  the  Mystery  Plays. — Although  the 
cycles  were  produced  by  secular  organizations,  they  had 
their  origin  and  motive  in  the  church  service,  and  never 
got  entirely  away  from  the  church.  Indeed  the  idea 
of  the  dramatization  of  Bible  stories  was  more  than 
three  centuries  old  before  it  produced  such  a  cycle 
of  pageants  as  the  imaginary  one  which  has  been  de¬ 
scribed. 

In  child  life  there  is  a  stage  in  which  a  love  for  the 
wonderful  seizes  the  dramatic  instinct,  and  there  results 
a  time  of  rich  imagination,  revealing  itself  in  dramatic 
expression.  Such  a  period  was  experienced  by  the 
English  people  between  900  and  1600.  The  lives  of  the 
saints  with  their  pseudo-miracles  and  attested  records 
supplied  the  material  for  such  an  expression  in  the 
earliest  part  of  this  period.  No  story  was  so  wonderful 
as  the  story  of  the  Besurrection,  and  it  first  felt  the 
life-giving  touch  of  the  dramatic  spirit.  It  is  the  early 
morning  of  Easter  Hay.  The  whole  town  is  at  mass. 
The  choir  is  singing  the  antiphonal  of  the  Besurrection. 
Just  before  the  Alleluia,  that  expresses  the  joy  felt  be¬ 
cause  of  the  risen  Lord,  choristers  representing  Mary 


23 


The  History  of  Religious  Pageantry 

and  her  friqnds  step  forth  into  the  chancel ;  other  chor¬ 
isters  with  angel  wings  face  them  and  ask : 

Qnem  qu99rits  in  sepulchro,  O  Christicolse  ? 

Mary:  Jesus  Nazarenum  crucifLxum,  O  ccelicolte! 

Angel:  Non  est  hie;  surrexit  sicut  prsedixerat. 

The  choir  then  shouts  Alleluia,  and  the  antiphony  is 
continued  to  its  completion. 

The  First  Drama  in  England. — This  little  dia¬ 
logue  in  its  bare  simplicity,  injected  as  it  was  into  the 
heart  of  the  most  sacred  religious  service  of  the  medieval 
church,  is  the  germ  from  which  grew  the  great  cycles  of 
a  later  date.  From  this  grew  the  literary  form  into 
which  Shakespeare  poured  his  thought,  and  from  which 
has  grown  the  modern  dramatic  productions,  wayward 
as  many  of  them  are,  and  disowned  by  their  sacred 
parent. 

The  reader  will  indulge  me  while  I  say  parentheti¬ 
cally  that  such  has  been  the  history  of  the  drama.  The 
classical  drama  sprang  from  the  sacred  rites  of  antiq¬ 
uity,  and  in  its  corrupt  form  was  disowned  by  the  reli¬ 
gion  of  a  later  day. 

While  this  little  play  was  taking  life  in  England,  a 
good  German  nun?  Hrothswitha  by  name,  was  trying 
her  skill  at  writing  Christian  plays  after  the  style  of 
Plautus  and  Terrence,  but  no  such  effort  was  made  in 
England.  Indeed,  not  until  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century  did  any  English  dramatic  writer  show  familiar¬ 
ity  with  classical  drama ;  whereas  the  earliest  recorded 
dramatic  speech  about  the  tomb,  in  England,  such  as  is 
quoted  above,  dates  from  the  year  933. 

Its  Growth. — Once  the  church  had  discovered  the 
wonderful  power  of  the  dramatic  presentation  of  the 
Resurrection,  the  desire  for  its  use  grew.  People  left 
the  Easter  service  impressed  as  never  before  with  the 
truth  of  the  Resurrection.  In  solemn  awe  they  left 


24 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

the  service  murmuring,  “Christ  is  risen.”  Ho  ritual, 
no  discourse  could  so  move  them.  The  Pope  was  be¬ 
sought  to  allow  insertions  into  the  ritual  and  to  allow 
liberties  with  its  performance.  Such  requests  were 
granted  conservatively.  The  conversation  with  Mary 
was  extended  and  elaborated;  Peter  and  John  were  in¬ 
troduced  to  run  their  race  to  the  tomb;  scenes  prelimi¬ 
nary  to  the  Resurrection  were  introduced ;  then  scenes 
succeeding  it.  This  continued  until  the  original  germ 
included  the  scenes  now  associated  with  Oberammergau. 
But  however  elaborately  developed,  the  Easter  play  in 
the  church  centered  about  the  removal  on  Easter  morn¬ 
ing  of  the  crucifix  from  the  tomb  inside  the  chancel 
where  it  had  been  placed  on  Friday  evening. 

Tile  Growth  of  the  Birth  Unit. — This  Easter 
play  having  proved  so  popular  and  so  effective,  the 
most  natural  thing  followed,  that  is,  the  development 
of  a  series  of  scenes  about  the  birth  of  Christ  for  use  at 
Christmas  time. 

The  Growth  of  the  Old  Testament  Unit. — The 
Old  Testament  series  too  grew  out  of  the  Christmas 
services.  One  of  St.  Augustine’s  sermons  is  devoted  to 
a  proof  of  the  divinity  of  Christ.  He  shows  the  birth 
of  Christ  was  the  fulfillment  of  prophecy,  both  sacred 
and  profane.  He  enumerates  the  prophecies  of  Christ’s 
coming,  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  from  classical 
writers.  He  enumerates  all  the  prototypes  of  Christ 
in  the  Old  Testament.  With  these  he  constructs  a  for¬ 
midable  array  of  facts  and  situations  pointing  to  the 
coming  Lord.  It  was  the  custom  to  read  this  sermon  in 
church  on  Christmas  morning.  It  occurred  to  some 
ingenious  priest  to  have  the  characters  referred  to  in 
this  sermon  come  in  person,  one  after  another,  enact 
the  situations  referred  to  in  the  sermon  or  pronounce 
the  prophecies.  And  so  they  came.  And  the  Old 


The  History  of  Religious  Pageantry  25 

Testament  unit  of  the  cycle  was  borne  in  a  procession 
of  impersonations  in  the  chancel  of  the  church  on  Christ¬ 
mas  morning.  There  they  came — Adam  and  Eve,  Noah 
and  Mrs.  Noah,  Abraham  and  Isaac,  Balaam  and  his 
ass,  and  all  the  rest,  in  a  steady  procession.  After  it 
was  over  the  priest  concluded  the  sermon  by  defying  the 
atheists  to  break  down  his  proof  of  the  divine  sonship  of 
Christ. 

This  great  service  which  the  church  was  rendering 
the  drama  and  rendering  itself  by  adopting  the  dramatic 
method  was  not  done  in  a  day.  The  pageant  was  a  slow 
growth,  but  a  steady  and  persistent  one.  In  the  depict¬ 
ing  of  Bible  stories  the  drama  was  confined  to  the  church 
for  about  three  hundred  years  after  the  appearance  in 
England  of  its  earliest  germ.  But  a  subject  so  vital  to 
the  people,  so  immense  in  its  scope,  needed  its  own  stage 
for  development,  a  freer,  less  solemn  atmosphere  in 
which  to  breathe.  It  was  delivered  to  the  guilds,  and 
they  presented  the  history  of  the  world,  past,  present, 
and  future,  as  indicated  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter. 
But  it  is  worth  noting  that  their  great  procession  of 
pageants  always  started  from  the  principal  church  build¬ 
ing  of  the  city — an  abbey  or  a  priory. 

The  Morality. — While  the  cycle  series  was  develop¬ 
ing  the  church  made  use  of  the  dramatic  appeal  in  in¬ 
structing  the  people  in  moral  and  theological  truth. 
The  Bible  story  pageant,  as  it  grew  within  the  church 
and  expanded  into  the  cities,  revealed  the  power  of 
dramatic  presentation.  It  was  natural  that  a  vehicle 
similar  to  that  used  on  special  occasions  like  the  Easter 
and  the  Christmas  service  should  be  utilized  to  carry 
home  to  congregations  the  messages  that  the  priests  were 
proclaiming  in  their  weekly  discourses. 

There  developed,  therefore,  in  the  church  that  type 
of  pageant  or  drama  usually  called  the  “morality  play.” 


26 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

This  has  been  defined  as  the  dramatic  presentation  of  a 
theological,  moral,  or  scientific  truth.  It  is  a 
dramatized  allegory,  and  its  characters  are  impersona¬ 
tions  of  virtues  or  vices. 

The  Morality  Illustrated. — The  type  has  re¬ 
cently  been  revived  in  the  modern  theater,  with  greater 
elaboration  than  in  the  medieval  church.  Everywoman 
is  such  a  modern  play.  Its  title  and  theme  were  prob¬ 
ably  suggested  by  the  recent  revival  of  Everyman ,  a 
typical  medieval  morality.  Since  it  is  one  of  many 
plays  of  this  kind  and  since  the  morality  was  a  very 
important  development  of  church  pageantry,  an  impres¬ 
sionistic  summary  will  be  pardoned. 

The  play  is  presented  in  a  darkened  monastery,  at 
one  end  of  which  is  the  stage.  A  great  voice  calls  to 
Everyman,  and  tells  him  he  must  go  on  a  long  journey, 
and  bids  him  make  preparation.  The  stage  is  then 
lighted  and  Everyman,  a  young  worldly  gallant,  is  seen, 
much  impressed  with  the  voice  of  God  and  its  message. 
After  his  mental  attitude  is  revealed  through  a  mono¬ 
logue,  he  calls  upon  the  friends  of  this  world  to  go  with 
him  on  his  journey.  Wealth,  Kindred,  and  all  the 
others  are  called  one  at  a  time,  and  each  will  go  as  far 
as  the  grave,  but  turns  with  scorn  from  his  begging 
that  he  be  accompanied  through  that  dark  journey  be¬ 
yond.  Holy  Church  agrees  to  furnish  the  means  of 
grace  by  which  he  can  find  a  friend.  A  scourge  is  given 
Everyman,  and  as  he  lashes  his  body  in  penance,  Good 
Deeds,  Avho  has  lain  unobserved  on  a  bed  of  sickness, 
begins  to  gain  strength.  Finally  she  is  strong  and  on 
her  feet,  and  they  go  together  into  the  darkness  of 
death. 

Such  was  the  morality  in  its  early  form.  Plays  of 
this  type  were  written  for  the  most  part  by  priests  and 
were  presented  with  the  motive  that  actuated  a  sermon. 


27 


The  History  of  Religious  Pageantry 

It  often  took  the  place  of  suck  a  discourse.  Indeed  tlie 
sermon  and  tke  morality  seem  to  have  merged  into  one 
another,  so  that  it  is  difficult  always  to  be  certain 
whether  a  given  production  is  a  sermon  or  a  morality. 

The  Miracle  Play. — Another  type  of  ancient 
pageantry,  which,  while  it  did  not  so  clearly  grow  up 
inside  the  church,  expressed  the  religious  motive  of  old 
English  life,  is  the  miracle  play.  It  usually  dealt  with 
an  incident  in  the  life  of  a  saint,  and  social  or  political 
units  busied  themselves  to  produce  plays  honoring  each 
its  own  patron  saint.  Early  English  people  seem  to 
have  believed  absolutely  the  story  of  the  wonderful 
miracles  wrought  by  the  early  Christian  fathers,  or  by 
their  relics.  “The  Lives  of  the  Saints”  was  their  won¬ 
der  book.  The  dramatic  presentation  of  a  miracle 
wrought  by  one  of  these  good  men  or  by  his  relics  was 
called  a  miracle  play.  A  long  list  of  these  might  be 
made,  enumerating  incidents  in  which  statues,  bones, 
clothes,  etc.,  of  saints  were  instrumental  in  restoring 
stolen  money,  reforming  lives,  turning  men  to  the  true 
faith  and  working  miracles  generally.  The  following 
story  will  illustrate  this  type  as  well  as  indicate  the 
matter-of-fact  way  in  which  our  English  parents  re¬ 
garded  their  most  sacred  religious  rites. 

The  Miracle  Play  Illustrated. — Some  true 
Christians  were  in  an  argument  with  blasphemous 
heretics  on  the  subject  of  transubstantiation,  the  latter 
declaring  the  holy  elements  to  be  mere  bread  and  wine. 
Upon  a  challenge  to  put  the  matter  to  the  test,  the  ele¬ 
ments  were  placed  in  a  pot  and  boiled.  The  bread  (or 
flesh  of  Christ)  increased  in  size  until  it  burst  the  pot 
and  spread  consternation  among  the  beholders.  The 
heretics  repented  and  became  true  believers. 

A  word  should  be  said  parenthetically  regarding  the 
definitions  given  above  of  the  mystery,  morality,  and 


28 


A  Guide  io  Religious  Pageantry 

miracle  plays.  The  definitions  are  doubtless  correct, 
but  English  dramatic  productions  have  never  been 
named  with  accurate  discrimination.  As  at  the  present 
almost  any  public  entertainment,  whether  the  perform¬ 
ance  of  a  dancing  girl,  a  circus,  or  the  singing  of  a 
prima  donna,  is  popularly  called  “a  show,”  so  any  sort 
of  a  pageant  in  early  England  may  have  been  called  a 
miracle,  a  morality,  or  a  mystery. 

The  Masque. — The  reign  of  ITenry  YTTI  marks  the 
coming  into  prominence  of  two  forms  of  secular  pag¬ 
eantry.  Henry  was  not  a  religious  man.  He  was  a 
Catholic  at  More’s  advice,  or  a  Protestant  for  domestic 
convenience.  The  preceding  reigns  had  enriched  the 
national  treasury,  and  Henry  used  the  funds  thus  acces¬ 
sible  to  keep  up  an  elaborate  court.  One  of  his  favorite 
means  of  amusement  was  the  masque — a  form  of  pag¬ 
eantry,  probably  known  in  England  before  but  cer¬ 
tainly  ignored  until  the  king  made  it  popular.  It 
consisted  at  this  time  of  impersonations  before  courtiers, 
by  members  of  the  court,  after  which  the  actors  joined 
the  spectators  in  an  elaborate  dance.  For  instance, 
Kobin  Hood  (impersonated  by  the  King)  and  his  band 
would  stage  a.  hunting  scene,  or  a  contest  in  archery,  the 
dance  following.  (Some  idea  of  the  rich  elaboration 
of  staging  of  a  masque  can  be  gained  from  the  record 
that  on  one  such  occasion  enough  gold  was  stolen  from 
the  decorations  to  enable  the  thief  to  go  into  mercantile 
business — at  a  time  when  a  merchant  was  a  trader  in 
foreign  ports.)  The  impersonations  at  these  entertain¬ 
ments  were  often  most  grotesque  and  bizarre.  Why  do 
we  have  Japanese,  Chinese,  and  other  sorts  of  dress  and 
parties  when  the  native  American  are  so  much  more 
beautiful  ?  The  same  fondness  for  the  bizarre  made 
the  courtiers  of  Henry  VIII  impersonate  crows,  fish, 
Moors,  and  such  like. 


29 


The  History  of  Religious  Pageantry 

The  Interlude. — The  other  secular  type  of  drama 
fostered  by  Henry  VIII  was  the  interlude.  This  was 
simply  a  witty  dialogue,  usually  with  no  originality  of 
theme,  staged  during  an  entertainment  in  a  home.  It 
took  the  place  of  games  in  modern  social  life,  that  is, 
reduced  the  time  in  which  a  guest  might  be  attacked  by 
ennui.  It  sometimes  contained  mild  satire,  but  its 
chief  importance  to  us  is  that  it  was  secular. 

With  the  coming  of  Elizabeth  to  the  throne,  with  the 
breaking  away  of  England  from  the  Church  of  Rome 
(the  mother  of  all  the  sacred  pageantry),  and  with  the 
study  and  imitation  of  the  classical  drama,  the  secu¬ 
larization  of  dramatic  performances  in  England, 
begun  under  Henry  VIII,  became  an  accomplished 
fact.  There  arose  the  great  English  drama  as  em¬ 
bodied  in  the  works  of  Shakespeare  and  his  contem¬ 
poraries. 

The  Masque  Still  Embodying  a  Moral  Motive. 
— But  the  love  of  pageantry  in  its  most  beautiful  form 
was  not  swallowed  up  by  the  great  dramas ;  it  survived 
in  the  masque.  England  was  full  of  the  refined 
masquerade,  more  dainty  and  stripped  of  the  awkward¬ 
ness  of  its  earlier  years.  It  turned  now  to  nymphs  and 
faeries.  On  her  progresses  through  the  country,  the 
queen  was  frequently  halted  while  winged  faeries  sang 
and  danced  for  her  delight,  and  other  courtiers  also  were 
so  honored.  The  spirit  was  “in  the  air”  and  such  a 
source  of  delight  could  be  extemporized  almost  any¬ 
where  at  any  time.  Shakespeare  caught  this  beautiful 
spirit  of  his  age  in  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  and 
his  plays  furnish  many  specimens  of  the  masque.  The 
most  typical,  as  probably  the  most  delightful,  is  in  the 
last  act  of  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor .  This  form  of 
pageantry  was  still  in  the  beauty  of  youth  when  the 
drama  was  in  its  sturdy  maturity. 


80  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

After  Elizabeth’s  death,  Ben  Jonson,  the  learned 
dramatist  of  the  age,  gave  his  time  to  developing  the 
masque.  The  court  architect,  Inigo  Jones,  staged  his 
productions.  In  the  hands  of  these  men  it  ceased  to  be 
simply  a  thing  of  beauty :  it  was  made  to  carry  a  mes¬ 
sage,  and  in  that  respect  seems  to  be  the  successor  of  the 
old  morality.  It  was  made  to  consist  of  two  parts:  the 
song  and  dance  of  a  vice  and  her  crew;  the  song  and 
dance  of  a  virtue  and  her  circle ;  these  were  appropri¬ 
ately  staged  and  made  to  depict  the  conquest  of  the  first 
by  the  second.  Falsehood  is  shown  a  hideous  figure 
amidst  a  hideous  set  in  a  hideous  forest  singing  a  typical 
song  and  gamboling  awkwardly.  She  flees  at  Truth’s 
entrance,  the  whole  landscape  turns  upon  a  pivot  and  a 
beautiful  scene  appears.  Beautiful  nymphs  join  the 
noble  person  of  Truth  and  all  sing  and  dance  joyously. 
Thus  the  triumph  of  Truth  is  presented.  The  spoken 
part  in  the  masque  was  reduced  to  a  minimum,  Jonson’s 
{esthetic  sense  not  allowing  him  to  “bore”  the  message 
into  the  ears  of  his  audience. 

The  best  known  of  all  masques  is  Milton’s  Comus; 
it  might  be  called  the  triumph  of  purity.  But  the 
Puritan  did  not  hesitate  to  bore  his  message  into  our 
ears.  We  are  glad  he  did  not  hesitate  to  do*  so,  but  he 
buried  his  masque  under  a  mountain  of  words.  Yet  the 
careful  reader  will  discern  in  Comus  and  his  crew  of 
swinelike  creatures  the  embodiment  of  a  terrible  vice, 
holding  for  a  moment  the  captured  girl  before  the  com¬ 
ing  of  her  deliverers,  the  flight  of  Comus,  and  the  fol¬ 
lowing  dances  of  nymphs  and  faeries  set  forth  the 
triumph  of  purity. 

This  was  written  by  a  Puritan,  but  the  Puritan 
party  headed  by  Cromwell,  enjoying  a  few  years  of  con¬ 
trol  in  England,  were  not  so  fond  of  the  theater  as  was 
young  Milton.  The  theaters  were  ordered  closed  and 


31 


The  History  of  Religious  Pageantry 

tlie  religious  spirit,  of  England  definitely  disowned  and 
outlawed  its  great  offspring — pretty  wayward  by  this 
time,  but  still  great.  When  the  drama,  thus  discontin¬ 
ued  a  while,  returned  in  1660  it  was  no  longer  worthy 
of  its  sonship. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  COMMUNITY  DRAMA 

IT  is  very  true  that  one  of  the  fine  arts  is  knowing 
how  to  live  with  people.  It  is  also  true  that  people 
have  to  live  in  groups  or  communities.  One  of  the 
essentials  to  proper  community  development  is  a  com¬ 
mon  understanding  and  a  mutual  sympathy  in  every 
department  of  activity  that  touches  the  group  life.  The 
community  pageant  or  drama  will  bring  people  together 
in  a  way  that  is  helpful  and  uplifting  and  will  often 
quicken  that  sense  of  mutual  interdependence  which  is 
so  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  all. 

Social  Aspects. — Professor  Arvold,  a  pioneer  in 
the  movement  for  dramatics  in  the  rural  sections,  says : 
“The  drama  is  a  medium  through  which  America  must 
inevitably  express  its  highest  form  of  democracy.  .  .  . 
When  it  can  be  used  as  an  instrument  to  get  people  to 
express  themselves  in  order  that  they  may  build  up  a 
bigger  and  better  community  life,  it  will  then  have  per¬ 
formed  a  real  service  to  society.”  One  of  the  great 
needs  of  all  communities,  whether  city  or  rural,  is  some 
medium  through  which  the  community  may  express  the 
best  things  of  its  own  life.  The  recent  war  has  taught 
us  many  things  anew.  With  all  its  terrible  conse¬ 
quences,  it  has  been  the  cause  of  bringing  to  the  surface 
some  of  the  finest  sentiments  of  loyalty  and  neighborli¬ 
ness  of  which  the  human  heart  is  capable.  A  common 
cause,  which  exempted  no  one,  elevated  the  group  con- 

32 


The  Community  Drama  33 

sciousness  to  high  moral  levels  until  some  thought  that 
a  new  day  had  come.  When  the  cooperative  under¬ 
takings  were  no  longer  needed,  the  community  con¬ 
sciousness  lapsed  back  into  its  individualistic  phase  and 
people  forgot  about  their  high  mutual  purposes.  There¬ 
fore  it  is  no  fanciful  dream  to  predict  that  the 
drama  has  a  very  useful  mission  in  the  peace  time 
community  development  of  our  American  life  of  the 
future. 

The  Commercialized  Drama. — One  of  the  crying 
needs  of  most  communities  is  some  legitimate  outlet  for 
the  buoyancy  and  vigor  of  youth.  Good  folks  wonder 
why  the  present  generation  of  young  people  go  in  for 
the  various  questionable  pleasures  and  recreations  of  the 
day.  The  answer  is  very  simple :  there  is  no  other  out¬ 
let.  This  situation  is  similar  to  that  of  the  good  mother 
who  wondered  why  Johnny  always  ate  green  apples. 
She  continued  in  her  perplexity  until  some  sensible 
person  suggested  that,  if  she  would  give  Johnny  some 
ripe  apples,  he  would  eat  less  of  the  green  ones.  One 
of  the  great  tasks  of  the  modern  Christian  community 
is  to  supply  channels  of  expression  for  the  natural  in¬ 
stincts  and  emotions  of  youth.  This  is  truly  one  of  the 
great  opportunities  of  the  Church.  The  dramatic  in¬ 
stinct,  so  deeply  ingrained  in  human  nature,  is  one  of 
the  avenues  along  which  the  pent-up  emotions  of  life 
may  find  legitimate  expression. 

In  most  communities  the  only  theater  is  a  commercial 
theater.  The  only  form  of  dramatic  expression  is 
tainted  with  commercialism.  The  writer  remembers 
how,  as  a  boy,  he  craved  some  outlet  for  the  dramatic 
instinct  and  found  it  partially,  only,  in  self-manufac¬ 
tured  plays  acted  impromptu  without  help  or  sympathy 
from  older  people.  The  only  place  to  see  any  form  of 
drama  was  the  little  town  theater  which  was  conducted 


34  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

for  profit,  and  had  always  as  its  standard  and  goal  the 
dollar.  The  plays  which  came  to  town  were  chosen  not 
from  any  ethical  or  artistic  motive,  but  from  the  money 
viewpoint.  The  show  had  to  be  “popular,”  and  “popu¬ 
lar”  productions  often  meant  degraded. 

Cultural  Value. — Chief  among  the  benefits  that 
accrue  from  the  use  of  the  drama  in  communities  is  that 
of  cultural  value.  It  tends  to  awaken  an  interest  in 
history,  literature,  and  art.  ISTo  group  of  people  can 
participate  in  a  community-wide  pageant  or  drama  with¬ 
out  engendering  a  broader  sympathy  and  obtaining  a 
more  extended  vision.  Dr.  Frank  Crane,  in  one  of  his 
inimitable  little  essays,  says:  “It  has  always  been  my 
conviction  that,  while  the  theater  cannot  be  successfullv 
made  a  platform  for  propaganda  for  the  simple  reason 
that  all  art  is  debased  when  it  finds  any  other  end  and 
excuse  except  the  joy  of  self-expression,  at  the  same 
time  there  is  no  single  instrument  so  powerful  as  the 
drama  as  a  means  of  cultural  development. 

“And  this  means  not  only  diversion  but  the  satisfac¬ 
tion  of  the  profoundest  needs  of  the  intellectual  and 
emotional  life. 

“Morals  are  not  made  nor  advanced  particularly  by 
didactic  teaching.  They  are  the  result  of  suggestion 
and  of  inspiration. 

“The  theater  of  the  future  will  become  religious  when 
people  have  learned  that  religion  is  not  a  side  issue  of 
life  but  is  the  very  essence  of  life  itself  and  carries  with 
it  the  secret  of  life’s  profoundest  and  most  subtle 
satisfaction.” 

Historical  Interests. — Pageantry  finds  a  very  use¬ 
ful  place  in  presenting  historical  incidents.  Many  con¬ 
spicuous  pageants  have  been  given  in  this  country  that 
are  familiar  to  all.  Prominent  among  them  is  the  Ter¬ 
centenary  Celebration  commemorating  the  landing  of 


35 


The  Community  Drama 

the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Accounts  of  this  production 
found  their  way  into  all  the  magazines  and  newspapers, 
making  its  success  familiar  to  most  Americans. 

Communities  also  find  a  use  for  dramatic  production 
in  presenting  historical  matter  of  local  interest.  It  is 
easily  seen  how  beneficial  such  community  projects  may 
be  in  building  up  a  friendly  cooperation  among  the 
neighbors  of  any  town  or  community.  Besides,  there  is 
an  educational  advantage  that  is  not  to  be  overlooked. 
Rural  communities,  in  particular,  are  almost  barren  of 
such  entertainment,  and  there  is  nothing  that  will  so 
quickly  build  up  that  spirit  of  unity  and  neighborliness 
so  essential  to  good  living. 

Colleges  also  are  telling  the  world  of  their  past 
through  pageantry.  In  almost  every  state  some  college 
or  university  has  undertaken  pageantry  in  presenting 
its  history.  I  will  quote  from  the  Pageant  Master  who 
so  successfully  produced  the  Centenary  Pageant  of  Alle¬ 
gheny  College  some  few  years  ago.  These  lines  give 
clearly  the  purpose  of  pageantry  for  college  use:  “The 
purpose  of  a  Pageant  is  by  dialogue,  pictorial  groupings, 
color  and  music  to  convey  the  meaning  of  the  history 
presented.  In  treating  the  history  of  Allegheny  Col¬ 
lege,  the  Pageant  Master  must  show  its  difficult  begin¬ 
nings  ;  the  struggle  to  equip  and  properly  maintain  the 
institution;  the  constant  presence  of  high  ideals  and 
self-sacrifice  in  her  officers;  its  steadily  growing  influ¬ 
ence  at  home,  and,  through  the  missionaries  it  has 
educated,  in  foreign  lands ;  and  its  decided  prosperity  in 
recent  years.  This  demands  many  changes  of  scene. 
But  outdoor  performances  almost  forbid  the  use  of 
painted  settings,  for  they  cannot  hide  their  artificiality 
and  cheapness  when  they  compete  with  Nature.  In 
almost  every  scene  of  the  text,  therefore,  the  Pageant 
Master  has  called  on  the  imagination  of  his  audience  to 


36  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

fill  out  the  suggestions  as  to  setting  which  he  has  given. 
Thus  the  circle  of  cooperation  is  completed.” 


Suggestive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  for 

Community  Use  1 

Drama 

List  of  Drama  for  the  American  Legion  including: 

Full  Evening  Plays  for  Mixed  Cast. 

One-act  Plays  for  Men  Only. 

One-act  Plays  for  Mixed  Cast. 

Operettas  and  Musical  Comedies. 

Minstrel  Shows. 

List  of  Drama  for  Children. 

Full  Evening  Plays  Suitable  for  High  School  Use. 

A  Graded  List  of  Plays  for  the  Girls’  and  Women’s  Clubs. 

Rural  Drama  Bibliography. 

Pageants  and  Festivals  for  General  Occasions. 

A  List  of  Pageants  and  Pageant  Material  with  Some 
Suggestions  for  the  Organization  of  a  Pageant. 

A  List  of  Pantomimes. 

A  Day  at  Nottingham.  By  Constance  D.  Mackay.  A 
Festival  based  on  the  theme  of  Robin  Hood.  Large 
groups  of  children  may  be  used. 

Faith  of  Our  Fathers.  By  Annie  Russell  Marble.  A 
Pilgrim  pageant  containing  the  Signing  of  the  May¬ 
flower  Compact  and  the  First  Thanksgiving  Dinner. 

For  Liberty  and  the  Rights  of  Men.  By  Elizabeth  B. 
Grimball.  Pageant  designed  to  commemorate  the 
First  Legislative  Assembly  in  Virginia. 

The  New  Era.  By  the  Outdoor  Players  at  Peterboro, 
N.  H.  A  Pageant  of  Patriotism  and  Reconstruction. 
Delightful  Pantomime  introduced. 

1  These  bulletins  are  issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Dra¬ 
matics,  Community  Service,  Inc.,  One  Madison  Avenue,  New 

York.  They  are  very  helpful  and  inexpensive,  averaging  in  price 

about  25  cents. 


37 


The  Community  Drama 

A  Pageant  of  Play.  By  May  Pashley  Harris.  Especially 
adapted  to  Playground  groups. 

Under  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  A  festival  of  Citizenship  by 
Elizabeth  Grimball. 

Special  Holiday  Material 

Arbor  Day:  Suggestions  for  an  Arbor  Day  Ceremonial  by 
Nina  B.  Lamkin. 

Christmas : 

Christmas  Program  which  includes  an  outline  for  An 
Old  English  Christmas  Revel  and  the  St.  George  Play, 
(a)  A  Combination  of  the  Traditional  Mummer’s  Play 
and  Oxfordshire  Play.  The  program  also  includes  a  list 
of  Christmas  plays  for  Juniors  and  a  list  for  Adults. 

The  Perfect  Gift.  By  Elizabeth  H.  Hanley.  A  Com¬ 
munity  Christmas  Pageant  including  a  tree  around  which 
carols  are  sung. 

Fourth  of  July.  Suggestions  for  Fourth  of  July  Cele- 
brations  * 

The  Flag  of  the  Free.  By  Elizabeth  B.  Grimball.  A 
program  for  the  Celebration  of  Independence  Day. 

Festival  of  Freedom.  By  Elizabeth  H.  Hanley,  includ¬ 
ing  tableaux  and  music. 

Labor  Day:  Program  by  May  Pashley  Harris,  including 
tableaux  and  music. 

May  Day:  Suggestions  for  May  Day,  including  an  outline 
for  the  Roman  Floralia,  Old  English  and  Robin  Hood 
celebrations. 

Memorial  Day:  A  Pageant  by  Josephine  Throp.  A  simple 
pageant  in  which  honor  is  paid  to  the  dead  of  the 
Civil,  Spanish  and  World  Wars.  Includes  drawing  of 
stage  plan. 

A  Memorial  Day  Sendee:  By  the  Bureau  of  Educational 
Dramatics. 

Thanksgiving  Program:  Suggestions  for  A  Thanksgiving 
Program. 

Washingtons  Birthday  Program:  Including  pictures  of 
the  suggested  tableaux. 


38  A  Guide  io  Religious  Pageantry 

An  Inauguration  Pageant  for  George  Washington  s  Birth¬ 
day .  By  May  Pashley  Harris. 

“ Lest  We  Forget an  Armistice  Day  Program.  By  Eliza¬ 
beth  Grimball. 

A  Handbook  on  Community  Drama. 

Inexpensive  Costumes  for  Plays ,  Festivals  and  Pageants. 
By  Nina  B.  Lamkin. 

Play  Production  in  Churches  and  Sunday  Schools.  By 
Constance  D.  Mackay. 

The  Dearest  Wish,  a  story-telling  festival.  By  Pauline 
Oak. 


CHAPTER  IV 


RURAL  DRAMATIC  ORGANIZATION  1 

COMMUNITY  drama  is  perhaps  finding  its  fullest 
expression  in  rural  districts  where  it  is  proving 
itself  a  power  in  welding  together  the  whole  community 
and  in  serving  as  the  focusing  point  for  the  leisure  time 
interests  of  all  the  people. 

In  rural  districts  it  will  be  well  to  have  a  permanent 
dramatic  committee  representing  the  Grange,  the  Farm 
Bureau,  the  Women’s  Clubs,  the  Girl  Scouts,  Boy 
Scouts,  churches,  schools  and  other  local  groups. 
Through  such  a  committee  the  following  phases  of  com¬ 
munity  drama  may  be  organized  : 

1.  The  equipping  of  the  town  hall  as  a  community 
theater  with  plays  given  by  traveling  groups  of  local 
players. 

2.  Festivals  at  the  county  fair  in  which  adults  as 
well  as  school  children  participate. 

3.  Historical  pageant  in  which  all  the  towns  of  the 
county  unite. 

4.  Community  Christmas  tree  and  carols  in  each 
community  or  a  traveling  group  of  carolers  who  will  go 
through  the  countryside  in  decorated  sleighs  or  motors. 

1  From  “Community  Drama,”  courtesy  of  Community  Service, 
Inc.,  One  Madison  Avenue,  New  York.  Those  interested  in  com¬ 
munity  development  through  dramatics  would  do  well  to  communi¬ 
cate  with  this  organization.  The  little  book  from  which  these 
suggestions  are  reprinted  is  replete  with  valuable  information 
covering  this  whole  subject. 


39 


40 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

5.  Educational  dramatics  and  children’s  plays  of 
high  standard  in  the  country  schools. 

6.  An  impromptu  outdoor  theater  where  young 
people’s  and  adults’  plays  can  be  given. 

7.  Special  holiday  celebrations  such  as  Hallowe'en, 
Thanksgiving,  Christmas,  Fourth  of  July.  (These 
should  not  be  made  monotonous  by  too  frequent  repeti¬ 
tion  of  certain  forms  of  celebrations.) 

8.  Drama  in  the  country  church  with  a  sub-committee 
for  production  of  a  suitable  play  in  one  of  the  churches. 

A  number  of  important  questions  should  be  asked  by 
those  undertaking  leadership  of  the  drama  in  small  dis¬ 
tricts.  These  are: 

How  far  wfill  the  local  library  cooperate  in  having  the 
right  books  ? 

Is  there  a  branch  duplicate  library  for  sparsely 
settled  districts? 

How  far  will  the  State  Agricultural  College  co¬ 
operate  ? 

Is  it  possible  to  have  some  of  the  young  people  of 
the  community  trained  in  expert  dramatic  leadership  at 
some  point  near  by  ? 

Do  groups  of  traveling  players,  such  as  the  Ben 
Greet  players,  visit  the  county  seat,  or  a  circuit  of 
towns,  in  the  summer? 

What  does  the  Lyceum  course  bring  to  town  in  the 
way  of  drama  ?  Can  it  be  more  definitely  related  to  the 
life  of  the  community? 

The  Pageant. — Rural  pageantry  is  becoming  more 
and  more  widespread  in  this  country,  and  many  com¬ 
munities  owe  a  renewal  of  their  art  life  to  historical 
pageants. 

The  Play  in  Rural  Districts. — In  a  country  town 
nothing  attracts  so  much  attention,  proves  so  popular, 
pleases  so  many  or  causes  so  much  favorable  comment 


41 


Rural  Dramatic  Organization 

as  a  home-talent  play.  It  is  doubtful  whether  Sir 
Horace  Plunkett  ever  appreciated  the  significance  of 
the  statement  he  once  made  when  he  said  that  the 
simplest  piece  of  amateur  acting  or  singing  done  in  the 
village  hall  by  one  of  the  villagers  would  create  more 
enthusiasm  among  his  friends  and  neighbors  than  could 
be  excited  by  the  most  consummate  performance  of  a 
professional  in  a  great  theater  where  no  one  in  the  audi¬ 
ence  knew  or  cared  for  the  performer.  Nothing  inter¬ 
ests  people  in  each  other  so  much  as  habitually  working 
together.  It  is  one  way  in  which  people  find  themselves. 
A  home-talent  play  not  only  affords  such  an  opportunity, 
but  it  also  unconsciously  introduces  a  more  friendly 
feeling  into  a  neighborhood.  It  develops  a  community 
spirit  because  it  is  something  everybody  wants  to  make 
a  success,  regardless  of  the  local  jealousies  or  differences 
of  opinion. 

The  Little  Country  Theater. — This  statement 
comes  from  the  rich  experience  of  Professor  Alfred 
Arvold  of  the  North  Dakota  Agricultural  College  who 
developed  the  first  model  little  country  theater.  At 
this  theater  students  are  taught  to  produce  plays  which 
they  can  later  take  back  to  their  own  communities. 
They  are  instructed  in  the  remodeling  of  town  halls,  in 
the  use  of  screen  scenery,  in  the  utilization  of  the  sim¬ 
plest  materials  in  the  most  effective  way.  The  per¬ 
formances  given  in  the  made-over  university  chapel, 
which  serves  as  the  theater,  are,  for  the  most  part,  one- 
act  plays  about  farm  life  in  North  Dakota. 

Through  the  influence  of  Professor  Arvold’s  theater 
many  parts  of  North  Dakota  are  developing  their  own 
art  life.  Many  home  talent  plays  are  given  with  no 
more  equipment  or  setting  than  an  empty  hay  loft  or  a 
large  barn  with  a  stage  of  barn  floor  planks,  a  draw 
curtain  of  binder  cloth,  lights  supplied  by  ten  barn 


42  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

lanterns  hung  on  a  piece  of  fence  wire  and  with  seats 
made  of  planks  resting  on  old  boxes  and  saw-horses. 

New  York  State,  under  the  leadership  of  A.  M. 
Drummond,  Professor  of  Public  Speaking,  Cornell 
University,  has  its  little  country  theater  in  connection 
with  the  State  Fair,  inaugurated  in  1919  and  sponsored 
by  the  New  York  State  Fair  Commission.  The  Com¬ 
mission  provided  a  bare,  whitewashed  wing  of  one  of 
the  older  exhibits  and  erected  a  rough  stage  on  which 
to  play.  It  was  part  of  the  demonstration  to  work 
things  out  under  conditions  common  to  country  com¬ 
munities.  Scenery  was  designed,  built  and  painted  in 
J  thaca ;  proscenium  decoration  planned  and  made  ready, 
lights  remodeled  and  props  selected.  The  players  from 
the  Cornell  Club  rehearsed  and  struggled  with  a  hun¬ 
dred  details.  The  scenery  was  then  put  in  a  trunk  and 
taken  to  Syracuse. 

The  repertory  of  the  week  comprised  Zona  Gale’s 
The  Neighbors ;  William  Butler  Yeats’  The  Pot  o’ 
Broth;  Lady  Gregory’s  The  Workhouse  Ward;  and 
S.utro’s  The  Bracelet.  “The  people  who  saw  the  per¬ 
formance  were  intent,”  says  Professor  Drummond,  “on 
taking  this  thing  home  and  doing  something  with  it 
themselves.” 

From  the  experiments  at  Syracuse,  which  proved  the 
appeal  that  artistic  plays  have  for  people,  activities  are 
springing  up  all  over  the  State.  Thus  throughout  the 
entire  country  little  country  theaters  are  having  a  tre¬ 
mendous  influence  on  the  life  of  the  people. 

The  Director. — In  speaking  of  the  director  of  com¬ 
munity  drama  in  rural  districts,  Professor  Drummond 
says :  “Who  are  in  a  position  to  aid  those  whose  inter¬ 
est  may  be  great  if  aroused?  Yaturally  some  are  pro¬ 
fessionally  or  semi-professionally  engaged  in  this  type 
of  drama.  But  largely  the  leaders  upon  whom  we  must 


Rural  Dramatic  Organization  43 

depend  are  those  whose  activities  and  interests  bring 
them  into  contact  with  folk  through  already  organized 
channels — preachers,  school  teachers,  district  superin¬ 
tendents,  county  agents,  grange  leaders  and  community 
leaders. 

“Where  is  the  organizer  who  will  get  half-a-dozen 
different  plays  going  in  as  many  near-by  villages  and 
put  them  on  a  circuit  so  that  each  community  can  see  in 
turn  the  work  of  others  ?  Or  who  will  circuit  such 
plays  already  playing,  as  many  are  ?  Or  who  will 
make  sure  that  the  churches,  the  schools,  the  grange, 
the  women’s  clubs,  in  his  village  has  each  its  play,  the 
program  worked  out  with  some  idea  of  relation  of  one 
play  to  another,  and  see  them  staged  one  after  another 
in  the  opera  house,  in  the  school,  the  church,  the  town 
hall,  or  in  the  ample  parlors  of  some  hospitable  neigh¬ 
bor,  or  during  spring,  or  fall,  or  summer  on  the  lawns  or 
in  the  orchard  or  grove  of  other  hospitable  friends  ? 
Who  will  take  the  responsibility  that  the  new  town 
hall,  or  grange  hall,  or  addition  to  the  church,  or  the 
new  sclioolhouse,  has  modest  but  well-planned  facilities 
in  it  for  the  staging  of  simple  but  good  plays  ?  Or  who 
will  warm  that  new  barn  by  making  it  the  occasion  of 
a  play  ?  A  barn  is  a  pleasant  theater,  especially  when 
the  great  rolling  doors  swing  as  curtain,  or  the  hay¬ 
mow,  half  filled,  can  seat  the  audience  and  the  run  mav 
be  the  stage. 

There  are  surely  some  persons  who  will  enjoy  read¬ 
ing  plays  and  picking  the  right  one  for  our  folks.  Some 
will  be  delighted  to  ransack  garrets  for  the  costumes 
of  1860,  to  collect  the  antique  furniture  to  make  a 
charming  setting  for  Cranford.  Perhaps  a  little  play 
about  an  incident  in  the  history  of  “our”  town,  or  a 
plan  for  a  pageant  descriptive  of  the  founding,  growth, 
and  historical  interest  of  the  village  is  already  waiting 


44  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

for  a  chance  to  see  the  light.  Some  will  perhaps  wish 
to  find,  or  to  write,  plays  dealing  with  technical  prob¬ 
lems  of  farm  life. 

If  the  director  cannot  be  found  in  the  community  he 
may  often  be  brought  from  the  outside  for  a  small 
salary,  as  in  the  case  of  several  rural  theaters.  Really 
fine  experts  can  be  found  to  wdiom  opportunity  means 
more  than  financial  reward.  The  personnel  of  a  the¬ 
ater  should  consist,  if  possible,  of  a  paid  director  and 
a  volunteer  staff.  This  staff  includes  assistant  director, 
art  director  (costumes,  scenery),  music  director,  and 
house  manager,  who  has  charge  of  the  properties,  heat¬ 
ing,  cleaning  and  sanitation. 

In  a  small  town  it  is  sometimes  better  to  send  out  a 
printed  announcement  mentioning  the  possible  reper¬ 
tory  of  plays,  the  aims  of  the  theater,  and  the  price  of 
seats.  These  may  run  from  fifty  cents  to  one  dollar, 
but  they  should  not  be  more.  If  possible,  admission  to 

the  wrhole  house  should  be  fifty  cents. 

*/ 

The  Players. — The  main  group  of  the  theater  may 
consist  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  players  who  can  be 
drawn  upon  at  any  moment.  They  may  be  used  in 
relays.  Performances  may  be  given  Friday  and  Satur¬ 
day  or  Friday  and  Saturday  of  alternate  wTeeks.  Two 
nights  or  possibly  three  nights  a  week  should  be  selected 
as  rehearsal  nights.  These  should  be  faithfully  adhered 
to,  and  it  must  be  understood  from  the  outset  that  re¬ 
hearsals  are  to  be  regularly  attended. 

Choice  of  Plays. — It  is  better  to  begin  with  a  pro¬ 
gram  of  three  one-act  plays.  This  means  that  three  dis¬ 
tinct  groups  of  people  can  be  rehearsed  and  the  burden 
does  not  fall  heavily  on  anyone’s  shoulders.  A  program 
that  has  been  universally  successful  consists  of  Alice 
Brown’s  Joint  Owners  in  Spain ,  Zona  Gale’s  The  Neigh¬ 
bors ,  and  Yeats’  Pot  o'  Broth.  The  Irish  plays  of 


Rural  Dramatic  Organization  45 

Synge,  Yeats  and  Lady  Gregory  prove  of  unfailing  in¬ 
terest.  The  rollicking  humor  of  Duty ,  by  Seumas 
0‘Brien  makes  this  a  particularly  happy  choice.  New 
plays  are  continually  being  produced  that  are  excellent 
for  rural  theaters.  Miss  Civilization ,  by  Richard 
Harding  Davis,  is  a  one-act  play  widely  used  by  rural 
theaters.  Other  plays  suggested  as  especially  suitable 
for  producing  in  the  country  districts  are :  A  Bee  in  a 
Drone’s  Hive ,  written  by  a  young  farmer  out  of  his 
own  farm  experiences  and  extolling  the  advantages  of 
rural  life  (obtainable  from  Professor  A.  G.  Arvold,  of 
North  Dakota  Agricultural  College,  Fargo)  ;  Bach  to 
the  Farm  ;  Kindling  the  Hearth  Fire,  by  Martin  Shum- 
way,  of  the  Extension  Division  of  the  University  of 
Minnesota. 

A  complete  list  of  plays  and  pageants  especially 
adapted  for  use  in  rural  districts  may  be  secured  from 
Community  Service. 

The  Chautauqua. — In  many  rural  communities  the 
chautauqua  has  been  practically  the  only  channel  for  art 
expression.  At  the  present  time  its  programs  are  more 
interesting  and  alive  than  they  have  ever  been  before. 
Story-telling  for  children,  folk  dances  and  games,  as 
well  as  bird  clubs,  present  activity  for  large  numbers  of 
people  of  the  community.  Operas  are  being  added  to 
the  program,  such  as  Robin  Hood ,  Pinafore,  Martha 
and  others.  Full-length  plays  like  Polly  of  the  Circus, 
It  Pays  to  Advertise  and  The  Man  from  Home  are 
gradually  taking  the  place  of  dramatic  readings  and 
impersonations,  and  Shakespeare  is  still  very  much  alive 
on  the  chautauqua  circuit.  Pageants,  too,  for  which  the 
children  and  young  people  of  the  community  are  trained 
in  advance  by  an  expert,  are  giving  to  the  people  of 
small  towns  the  benefit  of  professional  advice  and  a 
taste  of  dramatic  expression.  Historical,  patriotic  and 


46 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

fairy  pageants,  biblical  and  Mother  Goose  pageants  offer 
a  wide  choice  adaptable  to  the  particular  groups  to 
present  them. 

The  Country  Fair. — As  has  been  demonstrated  by 
the  experience  of  Professor  Drummond  in  connection 
with  his  little  country  theater  at  the  State  Fair  much 
can  be  done  in  interesting  the  people  of  rural  districts 
as  they  come  together  for  this  function.  And  the  coun¬ 
try  fair  shows  promise  of  beckoning  in  time  a  real  ex¬ 
pression  of  the  work  and  life  of  the  countryside.  Sev¬ 
eral  towns  have  already  succeeded  in  having  programs 
of  talent  presented  by  the  people  themselves.  Every 
effort  should  be  made  to  strengthen  this  phase  and  to 
substitute  the  best  available  country  drama  for  the 
cheap  carnival  which  persists. 

Planning  the  Program. — Community  drama  in 
rural  districts  as  well  as  in  the  city  is  most  successful 
if  its  program  is  planned  in  advance.  A  year’s  pro¬ 
gram  is  given  here  as  a  basis  of  suggestions. 

Lincolns  Birthday. — Lincoln’s  Birthday  may  be 
celebrated  by  a  community  sing  and  by  a  children’s  play 
about  Lincoln,  or,  if  there  happens  to  be  a  particularly 
talented  reader  in  the  community,  by  reading  done  very 
quietly  and  sincerely  of  passages  from  John  Drink- 
water’s  Abraham  Lincoln.  A  Lincoln  play  for  chil¬ 
dren,  using  a  dozen  or  more  characters  and  a  simple 
interior  setting,  is  to  be  found  in  “Patriotic  Plays  and 
Pageants,”  published  by  Henry  Holt  and  Company,  19 
West  44th  Street,  Hew  York.  This  company  also  pub¬ 
lished  a  volume  called  “Little  Plays  from  American 
History,”  containing  a  play  about  Lincoln  when  he  was 
a  grown  man. 

Valentine's  Day. — On  Valentine’s  Day  have  a  Valen¬ 
tine  dance  in  the  town  hall  with  favors  of  pretty  valen¬ 
tines. 


47 


Rural  Dramatic  Organization 

Washingtons  Birthday.  — Washington’s  Birthday 
may  be  celebrated  by  a  patriotic  community  sing  with 
stereopticon  pictures  of  Mount  Vernon  and  other  places 
connected  with  the  life  of  Washington.  At  the  end  of 
the  evening  a  one-act  play  can  be  given  by  the  adults  of 
the  community.  For  this  purpose  a  delightful  little 
comedy  called  Washington s  First  Defeat  is  admirable. 
This  is  published  by  Samuel  French,  28  West  38th 
Street,  Ye w  York,  price,  25  cents.  Further  suggestions 
will  be  found  in  Suggestions  for  a  Washington’s  Birth¬ 
day  Program,  published  with  illustrations  for  tableaux, 
by  Community  Service,  1  Madison  Avenue,  Yew  York, 
price,  15  cents. 

Arbor  Day. — Where  the  rural  school  wished  to  give  a 
very  simple  program  of  music  and  recitations,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  program,  which  may  be  staged  as  a  community 
celebration  in  the  town  hall,  will  be  suggestive : 

1.  Arbor  Day  Alphabet,  by  Ada  Simpson  Sherwood, 
given  by  the  little  children  from  the  rural  school, 
each  holding  a  large  letter  of  the  alphabet,  done  in 
green. 

2.  Song  from  Shakespeare’s  As  You  Like  it. 

“Who  loves  to  lie  with  me 
Under  the  greenwood  tree” 

(by  community  chorus) 

3.  Song:  “Apple,  Beech  and  Cedar  Fair”  (by  school 
children). 

4.  Recitation:  “Tree  Proverbs.” 

5.  Recitation:  “Woodman,  Spare  That  Tree.” 

6.  Trees.  A  class  exercise  in  which  young  people  of 
all  ages  from  primary  grade  may  participate. 

The  material  for  this  program,  including  the  Arbor 
Day  Alphabet ,  “Tree  Proverbs,”  “Woodman,  Spate 


48 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

That  Tree,”  and  the  song,  “ Apple,  Beech  and  Cedar 
Fair,”  as  well  as  Trees >  a  class  exercise,  can  all  be 
found  in  ‘‘Arbor  Day,”  by  Robert  Haven  Schauffler,  in 
the  series  -called  “Our  National  Holidays,”  published 
bv  Moffat,  Yard  and  Company,  New  York  City,  price, 
$1.50. 

Memorial  Day. — An  indoor  or  outdoor  pageant  is 
particularly  appropriate  for  Memorial  Day. 

May  Day. — May  Day  should  have  its  Maypole  and  a 
simple  festival  by  the  school  children. 

Fourth  of  July. — Two  suggestions  are  offered  here 
for  a  Fourth  of  July  ceremonial  and  a  community 
gathering. 

A  Patriot’s  Fourth  of  July. — If  this  Patriot’s  Fourth 
of  July  is  held  in  a  rural  community  in  the  evening, 
use  as  a  novelty  a  Liberty  tree.  The  Liberty  tree  was 
a  pine  tree ;  it  is  immortalized  on  many  Revolutionary 
dags. 

Where  this  tree  stands  in  the  center  of  a  village 
square  and  is  lighted  with  electric  lights,  if  possible 
have  these  lights  red,  white  and  blue,  there  should  be  an 
American  flag  on  top  of  the  tree.  Where  few  lights  are 
used  for  decoration  in  the  village  square,  or  where  a 
tree  must  be  omitted  for  some  reason,  then  wind  a  flag 
pole  with  Liberty  greens.  Have  it  a  Liberty  pole  such 
as  was  used  in  olden  days,  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
floating  from  its  top. 

About  this  Liberty  tree  or  Liberty  pole  have  the  com- 
munity  gather  to  sing  patriotic  songs.  Have  Liberty 
stand  by  the  tree  or  the  pole  dressed  in  her  traditional 
costume,  with  a  torch  in  her  hand  lighted  with  an  elec¬ 
tric  light  of  red.  Each  patriotic  singing  group  follows 
a  leader,  who  carries  a  flag  with  a  state  seal  in  it.  These 
flags  can  be  bought  or  made  out  of  Canton  flannel,  with 
the  colors  and  designs  copied  from  the  colored  plates  of 


Rural  Dramatic  Organization  49 

flags  and  seals  which  can  he  found  in  any  large  diction¬ 
ary.  A  large  space  must  be  kept  about  the  Liberty 
tree,  and  under  the  tree  should  be  a  raised  dais  on  which 
Liberty  stands.  Leading  up  to  this  dais  are  four  path¬ 
ways,  along  which  community  singers  can  march  as  they 
surround  the  tree  or  pole.  The  celebration  begins  when 
a  bugle  is  blown  three  times.  The  first  group  of  singers 
marches  in  chanting  Arthur  Farwell’s  “Hymn  to  Lib¬ 
erty, ??  which  may  be  obtained  from  G.  Schirmer,  7  East 
43rd  Street,  New  York,  price,  10  cents.  When  the 
celebration  is  over,  the  lights  on  the  tree  are  turned  out, 
and  the  symbolic  figure  of  Liberty  quietly  disappears 
from  view. 

Other  suggestions  for  Fourth  of  July  celebration  are 
to  be  found  in  “The  Flag  of  the  Free.” 

One  community,  which  had  not  sufficient  funds  to 
give  a  pageant,  hung  lighted  lanterns  about  the  village 
green  and  had  a  costume  dance.  Uncle  Sam  and  Co¬ 
lumbia  in  costume  welcomed  the  whole  village,  who 
came  dressed  as  Colonials,  Puritans,  Civil  War  folk, 
pioneers  and  volunteers  of  the  War  of  1812.  The 
people  either  found  their  costumes  in  the  attic  or  de¬ 
vised  something  for  the  occasion.  The  whole  effect  was 
very  pretty  and  novel.  The  dances  were  such  as  could 
be  done  on  the  green,  lancers,  Virginia  reel  and  some 
old  contra  dances.  The  village  band,  which  had  been 
practicing  for  two  months,  furnished  the  music. 

Labor  Day. — “Suggestions  for  a  Labor  Day  Celebra¬ 
tion,”  by  May  Pashley  Harris,  may  be  secured  in 
mimeographed  form  from  Community  Service,  price, 
10  cents.  This  ceremonial  may  be  combined  with  reci¬ 
tations  of  stirring  poems  and  offers  opportunity  for  com¬ 
munity  singing.  It  should  be  given  by  adults  of  the 
community  or  by  students  of  high  school  or  college  age. 

Thanksgiving. — Thanksgiving  may  be  celebrated  by 


50 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

a  jolly  community  gathering  and  a  Pilgrims7  cantata 
or  a  Pilgrims7  play.  For  suggestions  along  this  line 
see  “Suggestions  for  a  Thanksgiving  Program,77  pub¬ 
lished  by  Community  Service,  price,  10  cents. 

Christmas. — For  Christmas  some  rural  communities 
like  an  outdoor  community  Christmas  tree,  or  Tree  of 
Light,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  while  others  prefer  an 
indoor  celebration.  Suggestions  may  be  secured  from 
Community  Service. 

A  Christmas  Community  Program  for  the  Town 
Hall. — In  this  suggested  program  both  singing  and 
recitation  form  a  part.  The  carols  mentioned  are  to  be 
found  in  the  “Community  Christmas  Tree  Carol  Book,77 
published  by  Novello  and  Company,  2  West  45th  Street, 
New  York,  price,  5  cents. 

Community  Singing:  “Oh,  Little  Town  of  Bethle¬ 
hem77;  “Silent  Night,  Holy  Night77;  “We  Three 
Kings  of  Orient  Are’7 ;  “Oh,  Come,  All  Ye 
Faithful.77 

Reading:  “Mary  the  Mother,77  by  Theodosia  Garrison, 
from  the  Designer  Magazine. 

With  this  recitation  a  stereopticon  picture  of  the  Ma¬ 
donna  should  be  thrown  on  a  white  screen  and  held  until 
the  end  of  the  recitation.  The  reciter  should  not  be  in 
evidence. 

Community  Singing:  “It  Came  Upon  the  Midnight 
Clear.77 

Recitation:  “Kris  Kr  ingle, 77  by  Thomas  Bailey 
Aldrich. 

Community  Singing:  “The  First  Noel.77 
Reading:  “Good  King  Wencelas.” 

Community  Singing:  “I  Saw  Three  Ships  Come  Sail¬ 
ing  In.7’ 

R  e  citation :  “Chr  i  stma  s 
Symonds. 


Lullaby,77  by  John  Addington 


Rural  Dramatic  Organization  51 

With  this  recitation  there  should  be  posed  a  tableau 
of  the  Madonna,  dimly  seen,  seated  against  a  dark 
drapery  with  straw  under  foot  and  the  Child  in  her 
arms.  This  tableau,  with  the  soft  accompanying 
chorus,  “Sleep,  Baby,  Sleep,”  ends  the  evening. 


CHAPTER  V 


HOW  TO  PRODUCE  A  RELIGIOUS  PAGEANT 
TALKS  WITH  THE  PRODUCER  1 

IN  writing  the  three  talks  that  follow,  I  should  like 
to  make  it  clear  that  I  am  not  addressing  myself 
primarily  to  the  professional  coach — although  he  would 
probably  be  the  first  to  avail  himself  of  anything  that 
might  reasonably  be  expected  to  help  him  simplify  his 
work.  But  the  amateur  director,  even  though  he  may 
have  had  considerable  general  experience,  might  well  be 
forgiven  if,  having  started  out  bravely  but  with  insuffi¬ 
cient  specific  preparation,  he  presently  found  himself  in 
a  discouraging  tangle  that  he  had  not  foreseen.  I 
should,  therefore,  suggest  that  his  first  official  act,  after 
having  decided  to  produce  The  Seeker,  should  be  to 
take  a  comfortable  chair — and  a  long  breath,  and  make 
a  leisurely  examination  of  it,  bit  by  bit.  Like  many 
other  things,  its  difficulties  will  be  well  on  the  way  to 
control  the  moment  they  are  thoroughly  apprehended. 

For  nothing  is  any  harder  than  we  think  it  is.  It 
depends  entirely  on  the  mental  attitude  with  which  we 
approach  a  community  production,  as  to  whether  it  be¬ 
comes  a  thing  of  joy  in  the  doing,  or  whether  we  make 

1  From  “How  to  Produce  The  Seeker,”  by  Clarice  Vallette  Mc¬ 
Cauley.  While  these  instructions  were  written  for  The  Seeker, 
they  nevertheless  have  a  general  value  and  are  applicable  to  all 
forms  of  pageantry.  Reprinted  by  permission  of  the  publishers, 
the  Abingdon  Press.  New  York. 


52 


How  to  Produce  a  Religious  Pageant  53 

it  a  task  so  stupendous,  so  irritating,  that  it  leaves  be¬ 
hind  a  train  of  little  quarrels,  petty  resentments,  aching 
hearts,  and  aching  heads  that  utterly  defeat  one  of  the 
first  purposes  of  all  community  entertainments — to  have 
a  good  time  in  doing  joyously  a  beautiful  thing  that 
shall  bring  joy  to  others. 

1.  Getting  Together. — The  spirit  of  the  partici¬ 
pants,  then — colloquially  expressed — should  be,  “Let’s 
get  together  and  give  a  pageant.”  And  if  only  the 
“let’s  get  together”  part  is  honestly  meant  and  gener¬ 
ously  persevered  in,  the  task  of  the  producer  is  already 
more  than  halved.  For  that  spirit,  encouraged  and  de¬ 
veloped,  will  lead  to  rich  and  crowded  hours  that  will 
leave  a  pleasant,  friendly  glow  long  after  the  pageant 
itself  is  forgotten. 

On  his  part,  the  producer’s  attitude  should  be  that  of 
the  conscientious  and  intuitive  teacher,  who  has  dis¬ 
covered  the  difficulties  of  his  subject  in  the  privacy  of 
his  own  armchair,  and  thus  leads  his  class  so  pleasantly 
and  surely  over  the  pitfalls  in  their  path  that  they  are 
never  aware  of  them  at  all.  It  is  a  wise  director  who 
keeps  his  knowledge  of  the  tricky  places  to  himself — 
at  least  till  they  have  ceased  to  be  tricky.  But  to  ac¬ 
complish  this  easily  will  require  a  great  deal  of  quiet, 
unobserved,  unappreciated  work  for  which  he  will  not 
be  complimented  nor  receive  any  credit ;  because  no  one, 
unless  it  be  some  wise-eyed,  seasoned  professional,  will 
ever  know  he  has  done  it  all,  so  smoothly  will  things 
seem  to  swing  into  shape  beneath  his  guiding  hand. 

To  explain  more  fully  what  I  mean,  I  will  say  at 
once  that  I  am  assuming  that  in  a  modest  little  produc¬ 
tion  such  as  this  should  be,  the  producer  will  also  be  the 
general  stage  director.  Now,  roughly  speaking,  stage 
directors  fall  into  two  classes :  the  one  who  comes  before 
bis  company,  after  careful  study  of  his  script,  with  a 


54  A  Guide  io  Religious  Pageantry 

clear  and  definite  idea  of  what  he  intends  to  do,  who  has 
mapped  out  his  action  and  carries  a  little  chart  of  it  in 
his  mind ;  and  the  director  who  used  exactly  the  oppo¬ 
site  method — what  is  called  the  “building-up”  process 
— who  says  genially,  “Now,  let’s  get  started,  and  we’ll 
just  read  our  lines  to-day,  and  gradually  build  this  up 
as  we  go  along.”  It  is  not  to  his  words  that  I  am  ob¬ 
jecting;  they  would  do  no  great  harm  if  he  had  a  clear 
idea  of  the  structure  he  was  going  to  build.  But  the 
trouble  is  he  usually  means  it  literally ;  he’s  waiting  for 
his  cast  to  build  it  all,  and  trusting  that  a  happy  in¬ 
spiration  will  enable  him  occasionally  to  put  in  a  brick 
— or  a  bit  of  mortar — as  things  go  along.  This  method, 
which  works  well  enough  with  small  casts,  is  never  safe 
with  large  groups  or  where  the  action  is  at  all 
complicated. 

It  is  not  that  I  think  the  director  should  be  a  martinet, 
and  expect  his  people  to  act  according  to  a  diagram 
drawn  on  his  thumb — far  from  it.  But  if  he  hasn’t  a 
clear  conception  of  the  pattern  he  is  going  to  weave  upon 
the  stage,  how  can  he  expect  to  keep  the  confidence  of 
his  people  ?  And  from  losing  confidence  it  is  but  a  step 
to  losing  interest,  to  coming  late,  and  finally  to  dropping 
out.  Incidentally,  the  confusion  resulting  from  re¬ 
hearsals  of  this  kind  will  be  very  bad  for  young  people, 
and  quite  spoil  the  cooperative  atmosphere  you  are  try¬ 
ing  to  create. 

Of  course,  directors  who  are  considerate  will  not  make 
the  mistake  of  keeping  people  idling  about  when  they 
cannot  possibly  get  to  their  scenes  that  evening ;  and  yet 
I  have  seen  an  entire  chorus  stand  limply  for  a  full  half 
hour,  while  the  director — a  professional,  too — trained  a 
couple  of  his  principals  in  a  trifling  bit  of  pantomime, 
which  could  much  better  have  been  done  on  a  bare  stage, 
empty  of  all  but  the  two  concerned.  Such  things  are 


How  to  Produce  a  Religious  Pageant  55 

usually  the  result  of  an  enthusiasm  so  great  that  it 
mistakenly  assumes  the  endurance  of  others  equals  the 
director’s  own.  But  that  is  dangerous.  After  all,  as  a 
director,  you  must  remember  that  you  have  more  at 
stake  than  they  have,  and  only  in  proportion  as  you 
build  up  their  pride  in  “our  pageant”  can  you  expect 
them  to  slave  as  cheerfully  as  you  do. 

2.  The  Easiest  Way  to  Go  about  It. — I  could — - 
if  I  wanted  to — call  this  a  chapter  on  “Organization.” 
I  prefer  to  relegate  that  terrifying  word  to  the  limbo  it 
deserves.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  too  much  organiza¬ 
tion  ;  it’s  like  too  much  ballast  in  a  balloon — you’ve  got 
to  throw  some  of  it  overboard  before  you  can  rise. 
Committees  that  commit  nothing  but  foolish  questions, 
and  eager  assistants  who  run  good-naturedly  about  try¬ 
ing  to  think  for  you,  are  just  so  many  human  dynamos 
whirling  along  to  no  purpose.  You  will  need  to  avail 
yourself  of  all  the  cooperation  you  can  get,  and  to  do 
that  intelligently  you  must  know  exactly  what  it  is  you 
are  going  to  require  of  your  helpers  before  you  start. 

The  Musical  Director. — First,  of  course,  comes 
some  one  competent  to  train  those  who  will  form  the 
chorus.  For  the  sake  of  dignity  we  will  give  this  in¬ 
dividual  a  title,  but  if — as  may  well  happen  in  the  small 
community — the  only  one  who  offers  herself  for  the 
work  is  an  inexperienced  young  pianist,  you  will  not,  I 
hope,  allow  the  mere  name  of  “musical  director”  to 
frighten  her  away.  For  her  work,  simplified  to  what  is 
barely  necessary,  will  be  to  teach  the  choruses,  either 
playing  herself,  or  providing  some  one  to  play  the  ac¬ 
companiments,  and  to  see  that  whatever  incidental  music 
is  used  has  been  sufficiently  rehearsed  with  the  speakers 
not  to  interfere  or  confuse  them.  When  The  Seeker 
was  given  in  Columbus  only  a  piano  and  violin  were 
used,  but  that  violin  was  played  so  sincerely — with  no 


56  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

effort  on  the  part  of  the  young  player  to  do  more  than 
beautifully  sustain  and  support  the  voices — that  no 
thinness  or  poverty  of  effect  was  felt.  I  mention  this 
merely  to  make  a  point:  don’t  be  afraid  of  starting 
simply.  If  you  have  only  a  piano,  start  with  a  piano. 
Who  knows  what  may  develop  in  your  midst  before  the 
performance ;  a  first  violin — perhaps  a  second ;  an  oboe 
or  a  flute — who  can  tell  ?  The  uncertainty  should  add 
to  the  piquancy  of  the  situation. 

The  Stage  Manager. — Of  course,  you  are  going  to 
need  a  stage  manager  for  the  performance,  so  you  will 
do  well  to  select  one  at  an  early  moment,  the  sooner  the 
better.  Because,  especially  if  it  is  his  first  attempt  at 
stage  management,  he  will  want  to  be  very  familiar 
with  the  script  ;  indeed,  by  the  time  you  are  ready  for 
your  first  performance  he  should  know  it  as  well  as  you 
do,  for,  on  that  night,  he  certainly  will  not  want  to  be 
referring,  in  a  panic,  to  the  script  every  few  minutes  to 
see  what  comes  next.  Therefore,  as  soon  as  the  re¬ 
hearsals  begin  to  develop  any  continuity,  I  should  have 
him  watch  from  the  front,  making  note  of  all  stage 
directions ;  and  toward  the  last  I  should  have  him  go 
through  the  form  of  setting  the  little  inner  stage  and 
indicating  by  the  simple  speaking  of  the  word  “Cur¬ 
tain”  that  he  knows  where  he  should  be,  and  what  he 
should  be  doing  at  each  moment.  If  the  curtain  must 
be  arranged  from  both  sides,  he  may  choose  his  own 
assistant.  He  will  need  one  anyway  to  help  him  in 
setting  the  inner  stage.  The  changes  required  are  of 
the  slightest,  but  they  must  be  done  deftly  and  with 
absolutely  no  noise,  therefore  an  intelligent  division  of 
labor  must  be  agreed  upon  beforehand. 

Tiie  Property  Man. — You  will  need  a  property 
man.  His  task  will  be  to  gather  together,  keep  track 
of  and  distribute  the  small  objects — such  as  books, 


57 


How  io  Produce  a  Religious  Pageant 

beads,  idols,  scimitars,  etc. — in  fact,  all  articles  used  by 
the  participants  that  cannot  properly  be  classified  as 
costumes  or  parts  thereof.  He  should  carefully  watch 
several  rehearsals — and  for  the  last  two  or  three  should 
either  provide  all  the  needed  “props”- — or  makeshifts — 
that  he,  as  well  as  the  participants,  may  become  accus¬ 
tomed  to  them  and  know  exactly  where  each  article 
should  be  found. 

The  Electrician. — Unless  you  are  playing  outdoors 
in  daylight,  you  will  need  an  electrician.  His  selection 
may  safely  be  left  until  nearer  the  end,  but  no  matter 
how  simple  his  equipment,  give  him  a  couple  of  re¬ 
hearsals.  Nothing  is  so  wearing  to  a  volunteer  elec¬ 
trician  as  that  strained  listening  to  unfamiliar  lines  for 
isolated  cues.  When — at  last — they  do  come,  they 
startle  him,  and  he  throws  his  lights  on  or  off  with  a 
nervous  haste  of  which  he  is  afterwards  ashamed.  To 
partially  obviate  this,  in  making  out  a  cue-sheet  for 
lights  always  put  your  “warning”  cue  at  least  two 
speeches  before  the  actual  cue  for  the  change.  That 
allows  ample  time  for  steady  preparation. 

This  pretty  well  covers  your  working  force,  and  as 
you  can  see  for  yourself  the  list  is  not  a  long  one.  Nat¬ 
urally,  if  you  are  planning  to  make  the  costumes  your¬ 
self,  you  will  need  a  costume  committee;  but  as  the 
costumes  will  be  taken  up  more  fully  in  another  place, 
I  will  not  dwell  upon  them  here. 

The  costume  committee  can  probably  provide  from 
among  their  number  a  wardrobe  mistress  and  an  assist¬ 
ant,  or  several  volunteer  dressers,  whose  services  I  can 
promise  you  will  be  very  much  in  demand ;  for  a  sari  is 
apt  to  be  a  contrary  thing  on  an  American  girl — and 
even  worse  mav  be  said  of  the  turban  in  the  hands  of  a 
modern  youth.  For  this  reason — and  others — three  or 
four  volunteer  dressers,  previously  trained  in  the  way 


58  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

that  Eastern  garments  should  be  worn,  are  better  for 
your  performers  than  many  excited  mothers.  Be  pro¬ 
fessional  about  your  dressing-rooms;  keep  out  visitors 
and  friends,  and  you  will  have  a  more  self-reliant  band 
of  players  and  a  calmer  performance. 

One  thing  more ;  and  this  is  in  the  nature  of  a  per¬ 
sonal  luxury  that  you  will  find  invaluable  at  the  start  of 
your  rehearsals,  though  not  nearly  so  necessary  as  time 
goes  on.  Elect  unto  yourself  a  secretarial  assistant,  and 
furnish  her  with  a  fat  notebook  and  pencil.  Her  help¬ 
fulness  can  only  be  measured  by  your  own  capacity  for 
being  helped;  therefore  I  shall  only  indicate  how  I 
should  start  to  avail  myself  of  her  services.  When,  for 
instance,  the  chorus  has  been  enlisted  and  definitely 
decided  upon,  she  has  noted  the  names,  addresses,  and 
telephone  numbers  of  those  volunteering  to  participate. 
After  the  music  has  been  learned  and  you  get  the 
chorus  on  the  platform  for  their  first  tentative  rehearsal, 
you  naturally  range  them  in  a  certain  order  according 
to  size  and  coloring.  The  easiest  way  to  make  that 
order  a  permanent  affair  is  to  give  each  one  a  number. 
Therefore  you  count  them  off,  from  left  to  right,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  rehearsal  you  ask  them  to  return  to  the 
positions  originally  assigned  them,  and  as  Miss  Secre¬ 
tary  calls  the  roll,  to  answer  with  their  numbers.  These 
numbers  she  sets  down  beside  the  names — and  arranges 
a  new  list  in  numerical  order  to  be  used  for  all  future 
rehearsal  purposes.  From  that  moment  this  notebook 
should  save  you  much  unnecessary  talking.  If  Miss 
Brown  drops  out,  the  new  girl  takes  her  number,  her 
place,  and  all  the  business  assigned  to  her.  If  you 
select  numbers  3,  5,  7,  9  to  do  a  certain  bit  of  action,  a 
notation  to  that  effect  is  made  in  your  book,  and  at  the 
next  rehearsal  you  do  not  have  to  say — “Well,  where  are 
the  flower  girls  V9  Because  a  glance  at  your  book  will 


59 


How  to  Produce  a  Religious  Pageant 

show  that  3,  5,  7,  9  are  the  delinquents  who  should  be 
in  position.  Between  rehearsals,  too,  this  record  will 
help  you  to  be  impartial,  and  not  unconsciously  to  de¬ 
pend  upon  the  same  set  of  girls  for  everything.  When 
you  no  longer  need  your  notebook  the  costume  committee 
will  find  it  very  useful,  as  it  will  enable  them  to  tell  at 
a  glance  just  how  many  there  are  in  each  group.  Mean¬ 
while,  it  has  served  to  classify  your  necessary  addresses 
by  groups  and  episodes,  thus  obviating  the  danger  of 
overlooking  anyone  if  calls  must  be  sent  out  for  unex¬ 
pected  rehearsals. 

3.  How  Shali,  We  Begin  ? — If  you  ask  that  ques¬ 
tion  of  almost  any  group  of  amateurs  assembled  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  a  play,  you  will  be  pretty  sure  to 
hear  a  large  proportion  of  voices  crying,  “Read  it  to 
us.”  It  is  not  really  a  bad  way,  either,  this  presenta¬ 
tion  of  the  play  as  a  whole;  it  sets  mood  and  tempo, 
permits  the  timid  ones  to  get  an  idea  of  what  will  be 
expected  of  them,  and  instead  of  unrelated  scenes — of 
which  they  often  do  not  catch  the  drift  until  they  are 
almost  ready  for  the  performance — gives  a  first  im¬ 
pression  which  at  once  conveys  the  message  and  meaning 
of  the  whole.  Moreover,  if  you  can  have  some  one  else 
read  the  script,  while  you  sit  back  and  study  the  reac¬ 
tions  on  the  faces  before  you,  you  will  get  many  an  un¬ 
conscious  suggestion  for  the  casting  of  parts. 

Then,  too,  you  can  make  of  the  occasion  a  social  op¬ 
portunity.  It  will  be  a  good  time  to  get  acquainted, 
although  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  reading  of  the  play 
will  not  be  the  first  time  you  have  come  together.  You 
may,  perhaps,  have  been  studying  the  subject  of  com¬ 
parative  religion  and  reading  the  sacred  literature  of 
the  East  for  several  months;  but  in  using  the  word 
“begin”  I  had  in  mind  the  actual  commencement  of  the 
pageant  preparation. 


60 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

Usually  you  will  be  able  to  pick  your  principals  with¬ 
out  much  trouble.  You  may  prefer  to  try  out  many  of 
the  players  privately,  and  there  will  likely  be  many  dis¬ 
appointments  ;  but  the  girl  you  tried  out  for  the  part 
of  Motherhood  will  probably  be  quite  willing  to  play  a 
Hindu  Woman  with  three  lines  to  speak,  if  the  spirit 
of  the  thing  is  kept  right  from  the  beginning.  In  the 
meantime  your  chorus  has  been  selected,  and  I  hope  you 
will  have  had  the  help  of  some  one  familiar  with  the 
vocal  possibilities  of  the  school  or  community. 

JSText  will  come  the  selection  of  all  those  who  are  to 
play  the  “bits”  (the  parts  which  appear  in  but  one  or 
two  scenes,  with  perhaps  a  few  lines).  As  soon  as  you 
have  chosen  these  people  it  will  be  wise  to  send  them  all 
into  the  chorus  to  learn  the  music,  explaining  that  you 
will  not  rehearse  their  scenes  until  the  choruses  are 
ready,  and  that  you  need  their  voices  to  swell  the  volume 
of  sound.  You  surely  will  need  their  help  if  you  are 
to  get  along  with  a  minimum  number  of  participants ; 
besides,  it  is  good  policy  in  any  event.  It  would  be  a 
very  poor  arrangement  to  keep  two  women  who  had 
played  bits  in  the  Animism  episode,  for  instance,  stand¬ 
ing  back  of  the  curtains  on  the  sides  of  the  stage  during 
the  rest  of  the  performance — or  until  the  Finale.  After 
a  certain  time  has  elapsed,  upon  a  cue  given  by  you — 
and  so  rehearsed — they  should  return  to  the  stage  and 
mingle  with  the  chorus,  taking  the  places  of  others  who 
may  now  leave  to  take  part  in  scenes  for  which  they 
have  been  selected.  This  keeps  the  stage  picture  chang¬ 
ing  just  enough  to  hold  interest,  keeps  your  side  stage 
clear,  and  best  of  all  your  people  participating  every 
moment. 

The  groups — priests,  widows,  etc.,  and  all  those  who 
have  some  individual  bit  of  action  or  pantomime  but  no 
lines — will  be  chosen  from  the  chorus  after  the  actual 


How  to  Produce  a  Religious  Pageant  61 

stage  rehearsing  has  begun.  As  a  general  rule,  those 
whose  costumes  are  distinctive,  should  not  appear  on 
the  stage  until  after  their  group  entrance  has  been  made. 

While  the  choruses  are  being  learned,  you  will  have 
several  rehearsals  with  your  principals  to  give  them 
their  positions  and  accustom  them  to  their  lines. 
During  these  rehearsals  it  will  be  well  to  appoint  some 
one  to  hold  the  book  and  read  all  chorus  lines  and  bits 
that  the  principals  may  be  accustomed  from  the  first  to 
the  many  kinds  of  cues  they  must  be  ready  to  take  up 
promptly. 

Now,  w7hen  your  chorus  is  familiar  with  the  music 
you  will  reverse  this  arrangement,  and  during  their  first 
stage  rehearsals  you  will  have  some  one  read  quickly 
such  bits  of  scenes  as  are  cues  for  the  chorus.  (Your 
stage  manager,  or  his  assistant,  would  be  the  proper  one 
to  do  this — as  it  is  as  necessary  for  him  to  be  familiar 
with  the  script  as  it  is  for  you.)  Your  first  stage  re¬ 
hearsals  for  the  chorus  will  be  devoted  to  merely  walking 
through  their  lines,  giving  them  positions,  action  and 
rough  groupings. 

In  the  meantime  you  will  have  called  several  re¬ 
hearsals  for  the  people  in  the  inner  stage  scenes.  These 
may  well  be  given  over  for  a  while  to  an  assistant,  if 
you  have  one,  and  certainly  you  should  have  been  able 
to  find  some  one  capable  of  coaching  the  Vadian  Priest¬ 
esses  and  the  girls  of  the  Eightfold  Path  in  their  respec¬ 
tive  pantomimic  action.  In  this  way  the  whole  thing  is 
taking  shape  simultaneously,  and  everybody  is  busy. 

You  are  now  ready  to  begin  to  assemble  your  parts. 
For  the  first  ensemble  rehearsal  I  would  call  only  those 
in  the  Prologue  and  the  First  Episode.  One  or  two 
episodes  a  night  will  be  quite  sufficient  while  you  are 
doing  preliminary  and  intensive  drilling.  The  reason 
for  having  worked  your  principals  alone  till  they  were 


62 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

easy  in  their  lines  will  be  now  apparent,  for  from  now 
on  your  chorus  will  have  to  be  in  attendance  every 
night — unless  yon  are  having  a  little  private  rehearsal 
for  some  special  scenes. 

Not  until  all  the  parts  are  running  smoothly  and  yon 
no  longer  have  to  stop  every  few  minutes  to  go  back — 
or  correct — would  I  announce  a  “straight-through- 
from-beginning-to-end”  rehearsal.  But  you  should  be 
able  to  have  at  least  four  or  five  of  these,  and  for  the 
last  three  you  should  have  the  stage  manager,  property 
man,  electrician,  and  full  musical  accompaniment  in 
attendance.  There  may  be  cases  where  this  cannot  be 
done — as  when  your  entire  electrical  outfit  must  be 
hired  at  the  last  minute — but  even  in  that  case  the 
person  who  is  responsible  for  the  lights  can  generally 
be  bribed  into  watching  a  rehearsal  or  two. 

A  dress  rehearsal  is  so  much  the  part  of  wisdom  that 
it  is  hardly  necessary  to  mention  it,  but  a  few  words  of 
encouragement  regarding  it  may  not  be  amiss.  Dress 
rehearsals  are  apt  to  be  chaotic  and  disheartening. 
People  take  twice  as  long  getting  into  their  costumes  on 
such  occasions  as  they  will  on  the  night  of  the  perform¬ 
ance — for  the  very  reason  that  they  are  getting  into 
them  for  the  first  time.  Make-up  too  takes  longer,  and 
the  mental  confusion  usually  results  in  a  very  unsatis¬ 
factory  rehearsal.  For  this  reason  it  is  sometimes  a 
very  good  plan  to  have  your  dress  rehearsal  several 
nights  before  the  performance,  and  then  to  call  a  sharp 
astraight-through-from-beginning-to-end’?  rehearsal  for 
the  night  preceding  your  public  presentation  of  the 
pageant. 

One  thing  remember — do  not  be  over  critical  at  the 
last  rehearsal.  The  time  to  be  critical — and  strict — is 
at  the  beginning,  before  the  people  are  tired.  The  last 
minute  is  no  time  for  fussing  over  trifles,  or  reminding 


63 


How  to  Produce  a  Religious  Pageant 

people  of  faults  which,  if  they  have  not  been  corrected 
by  this  time  will  not  be  corrected  anyway.  The  thing 
to  say  at  the  last  rehearsal — and  I  hope  you  can  say  it 
honestly — is :  “Splendid !  Now  go  home  and  rest  up 
— and  forget  all  about  it — because  it’s  sure  to  go  beau¬ 
tifully  to-morrow — I  know  it!”  And  above  all,  never 
let  the  curtain  go  up  on  the  first  performance  without  a 
word  of  encouragement  and  good  cheer.  It’s  the  pro¬ 
ducer’s  business  to  make  his  people  feel  that  every 
ounce  of  his  strength  and  good  will  is  with  them.  He 
knows  he’s  done  all  he  can,  and  that  now  it  is  in  their 
hands — but  he  can  still  do  this :  he  can  radiate  such 
good  will,  such  faith  in  them,  that  they  will  be  sure  to 
have  the  one  quality  that  never  fails — the  irresistible 
appeal  of  a  sincere  desire  to  please. 


CHAPTEK  VI 


COSTUMING 

SUGGESTIONS  for  Old  Testament  Characters. 

— The  question  of  costuming  Old  Testament  Char¬ 
acters  with  accuracy  is  a  more  difficult  matter  than 
appears  on  first  consideration.  To  begin  with, 
there  is  some  doubt  in  regard  to  just  how  the 
ancient  Hebrews  dressed.  The  problem  is  some¬ 
what  simplified  in  the  characterization  of  dress  in 
the  later  periods  of  Israel’s  history.  Of  course 
there  are  certain  stereotyped  forms  of  Hebrew 
costume,  but  these  forms  have  been  largely  set  by  the 
particular  conceptions  of  artists  who  have  since  the  be¬ 
ginning  spread  much  paint  in  their  endeavors  to  portray 
the  great  men  and  women  of  Israel.  Art,  then,  has 
played  a  most  important  role  in  fixing  in  our  minds 
these  conventional  modes  in  which  we  think  of  the 
peoples  of  antiquity.  One  would  be  dogmatic,  indeed, 
who  attempted  to  speak  with  authority  on  the  subject  of 
just  how  Moses  looked,  yet  written  into  the  conception 
of  Moses  held  by  the  civilized  world  is  the  imagination 
of  Michelangelo  as  expressed  in  the  famous  statue  in 
Home.  Kaphael  has  likewise  set  his  stamp  upon  certain 
religious  figures.  Artists  have  fixed  in  the  popular 
mind  these  conceptions  of  how  the  ancients  looked,  and 
for  practical  purposes,  it  is  best  to  receive  them  as  au¬ 
thoritative  and  use  them  in  dramatic  presentation. 

After  all,  the  chief  motive  in  religious  pageantry  is 

64 


Costuming  65 

not  that  of  accuracy  in  detail  of  dress,  or  even  of  dra¬ 
matic  technique  in  its  highest  sense,  but  the  presenta* 
tion  of  the  spiritual.  The  director  of  a  religious 
pageant  is  more  concerned  with  the  message  than  with 
the  setting,  as  important  a  factor  as  is  the  latter.  The 
art  of  pageantry  in  religious  education  is  a  means  to  an 
end,  though  artists  are  not  friendly  to  this  position, 
maintaining  that  when  art  exists  for  anything  other 
than  itself  it  falls  short  of  its  highest  attainments.  The 
teacher  of  religion,  however,  must  agree  to  differ  and 
utilize  every  means  possible  to  develop  in  the  race  the 
sense  of  the  spiritual  and  the  divine. 

The  Early  Hebrew  Costumes. — For  purposes  of 
general  religious  pageantry  it  is  satisfactory  to  assume 
that  the  early  Hebrews  dressed  after  a  fashion  similar 
to  the  modern  Arab.  These  costumes  are  familiar  to 
all,  and  illustrations  in  color  may  be  found  in  diction¬ 
aries,  encyclopedias,  magazines — such  as  the  Geographic 
Magazine ,  Dictionaries  of  the  Bible  and  other  books  of 
a  general  nature.  Elizabeth  E.  Miller,  in  her  admirable 
little  book,  “The  Dramatization  of  Bible  Stories,” 
makes  the  following  observation  regarding  Hebrew  cos¬ 
tumes:  “It  is  fairly  certain  that  among  the  earliest 
tribes  a  simple  slip  or  short  tunic,  with  close-fitting 
sleeves,  was  worn.  Later  a  big  loose  mantle  was  usually 
thrown  over  this  slip.  The  little  undergarment  was 
white,  woven  from  wool,  or  sometimes  made  of  skins ; 
the  outer  garment  was  frequently  striped,  a  bright  color 
with  white.  Among  the  old  patriarchs  the  outside  cloak 
reached  to  the  ground.  It  was  often  in  the  shape  of  a 
blanket,  and  was  draped  by  throwing  one  end  over  the 
left  shoulder,  then  passing  it  across  the  front  of  the 
body  and  under  the  right  arm,  then  across  the  back,  and 
to  the  left  shoulder  again. 

“At  a  still  later  period  there  was  the  long  gown, 


66  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

which  reached  to  the  ankles  and  was  belted  in  at  the 
waist  by  a  girdle.  This  was  sometimes  covered  by  an 
outside  robe  shaped  like  a  cape.  Frequently  these  gar¬ 
ments  wrere  brought  up  over  the  head  in  order  to  protect 
their  wearers  from  the  sun. 

“As  a  rule  the  servants  and  lower  class  of  people  wore 
only  the  one  garment — a  short  tunic,  with  or  without  a 
girdle.  The  richer  men  wore  the  outside  cloaks.  Kings 
and  nobles  had  many  kinds  of  cloaks  which  were  very 
elaborately  decorated.  They  had  silk  girdles,  while  the 
poorer  men  wore  leather  girdles.” 

Other  helpful  suggestions  as  to  costuming  may  be 
found  along  with  the  text  in  most  published  booklets. 
These  suggestions  coming  from  the  author  of  the 
pageant  are  always  useful  because  of  their  specific  na¬ 
ture.  A  brief  quotation  from  one  of  these  may  be  help¬ 
ful  in  a  general  way.  Marie  E.  J.  Hobart  is 
the  author  of  a  very  artistic  mystery  play  Rebekah, 
in  which  the  following  helpful  suggestion  is  made : 
“.  .  .  tunics  with  flowing  sleeves,  made  of  un¬ 
bleached  muslin,  were  used  as  the  foundation  of 
both  men’s  and  women’s  costumes.  The  women 
wore  long  veils  draped  across  the  shoulders,  and 
wide  sashes.  The  men  wore  short  veils,  fastened  Bed¬ 
ouin  fashion  with  circlets  of  bright  colored  worsted, 
and  mantles  and  wide  sashes.  Some  of  the  women  wore 
bright  colored  skirts  and  short  coats,  and  some  of  the 
men  wore  longer  coats  over  their  tunics.  It  is  impor¬ 
tant  to  use  as  much  color,  and  as  vivid  and  startling 
contrasts  as  possible.  Cheesecloth,  dyed,  is  useful  in 
gaining  the  right  effects.  Rebekah  wore  a  bright  skirt 
and  coat  of  Oriental  pattern  in  Scene  I ;  and  in  Scenes 
II  and  III  a  much  handsomer  white  embroidered 
woolen  skirt  and  coat.  In  both  costumes,  of  course,  she 
wore  a  broad  sash  and  veil.  Her  bridal  veil,  which  is  put 


Costuming  67 

on  over  her  ordinary  veil,  should  be  large  enough  to 
cover  her  completely  when  thrown  over  her  head.” 

Pictures  and  Their  Value. — Pictures  are  very 
valuable  in  giving  ideas  of  costuming.  Perhaps  the 
most  helpful  would  be  Tissot’s  pictures  which  are  ob¬ 
tainable  from  almost  any  Church  publishing  house. 
Most  of  these  are  in  color  and  will  be  found  very  use¬ 
ful.  Other  concerns  make  reproductions  from  great 
paintings,  and  these  will  also  be  found  indispensable. 

Suggestions  for  Vew  Testament  Characters.1 

General  Suggestions. — “ There  should  be  one  super¬ 
visor  of  costumes,  with  assistants,  each  of  whom  will 
be  responsible  for  having  a  certain  group  of  performers 
costumed  at  the  appointed  time.  The  costumes  should 
be  labeled,  each  with  the  name  of  the  performer  who 
is  to  wear  it,  and  should  be  stored  in  a  definite  place 
when  not  in  use,  so  that  there  may  be  no  confusion  or 
loss.  Let  the  costumes  be  prepared  as  soon  as  the  re¬ 
hearsing  begins.  It  is  as  easy  to  prepare  them  early  as 
late ;  and  the  performers  will  enter  more  truly  into  the 
spirit  of  the  work  from  the  time  they  assume  their 
strange  garb.  It  will  be  best  to  have  all  of  the  costumes 
planned,  and  most  of  them  made,  by  a  committee  or 
ladies’  society,  instead  of  leaving  them  to  individual 
initiative.  This  is  particularly  true  of  children’s  cos¬ 
tumes.  If  the  participants  are  told  that  their  Oriental 
array  will  be  furnished  them,  they  will  be  much  more 
likely  to  take  part ;  and  this  plan  will  also  avoid  the 

1  These  suggestions  are  taken  from  the  little  booklet  of  in¬ 
structions  accompanying  When  the  Star  Sh&ne,  by  Lyman  E. 
Bayard,  and  are  reprinted  with  his  permission.  (Copyright, 
1921,  by  Lyman  R.  Bayard.)  While  they  were  written  specially 
for  this  one  pageant  they  have  a  general  value  applicable  to 
most  New  Testament  productions. 


68  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

failure  of  any  at  the  last  moment  to  have  their  costumes 
ready.  It  will  also  add  to  the  beauty  and  good  taste  of 
the  stage  picture,  and  will  prove  more  economical. 
Some  mothers  cannot  plan,  some  cannot  make,  and 
others  cannot  afford  costumes  for  their  children. 
Linings  of  bright  colors,  cambric,  cheesecloth  and  rem¬ 
nants  can  be  secured  cheaply  and  made  up  by  the  ladies. 
Certain  kinds  of  shawls — Paisley,  for  instance,  turned 
wrong  side  out,  produce  beautiful  Oriental  effects.  A 
few  packages  of  dye  will  work  marvels  with  old  sheets, 
which  color  and  drape  beautifully,  and  with  other  fab¬ 
rics.  If  to  each  shade  of  dye  used,  there  is  added  a  very 
small  portion  of  each  of  the  other  tints,  the  resulting 
colors  will  be  very  harmonious  in  tone.  Merchants  will 
often  lend  curtains  or  fabrics  used  for  window-trimming. 
Sometimes  fraternal  orders  will  lend  costumes  which  can 
be  used  for  the  richer  garments.  Be  sure  that  nothing 
grotesque  is  permitted  to  be  worn,  as  the  atmosphere 
of  reverence  must  be  preserved  throughout. 

Girls  and  Women. — “The  usual  dress  for  girls  and 
women  is  a  loose  robe  having  long  pointed  sleeves  and 
reaching  to  the  floor.  It  often  has  a  fancy  colored  yoke, 
shaped  very  like  a  child’s  oblong  bib,  embroidered  or 
otherwise  decorated.  The  robe  is  confined  at  the  waist 
by  a  sash  of  bright  contrasting  color.  Improvised  cos¬ 
tumes  may  be  made  out  of  shawls,  draperies  and  cur¬ 
tains,  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  a  man’s  coat  de¬ 
scribed  below,  except  that  for  a  woman  this  kind  of 
costume  should  be  sewed  up  in  the  front. 

“The  women  usually  wear  head  scarfs  from  a  yard 
and  a  half  to  two  yards  long,  either  square  or  some¬ 
what  narrower.  These  are  commonly  draped  as  fancy 
dictates  over  a  red  cap  which  may  be  made  by  cover¬ 
ing  a  crown  of  pasteboard  with  cloth  or  paper.  The 
front  of  the  cap  is  decorated  with  rows  of  gold  coins. 


Costuming  69 

From  the  sides  is  suspended  a  chain  which  hangs  loosely 
under  the  chin.  Attached  to  this  are  coins  about  the  size 
of  a  quarter-dollar.  Imitation  coins  can  be  made  by 
covering  cardboard  discs  with  gold  or  silver  paper. 
Heavy,  showy  necklaces  and  other  pieces  of  jewelry  are 
truly  Oriental. 

“Oftentimes  a  wide  mantle  is  draped  over  the  head 
and  shoulders  and  covers  the  entire  person.  Some  kind 
of  kimonos,  not  too  Japanese  in  character,  make  good 
tunics  for  girls  and  woman.” 

Boys  and  Men. — “The  boys  and  men  wear  tunics  of 
white  or  bright  solid  colors  or  stripes,  much  like  the 
dress  of  the  women,  though  the  sleeves  are  more  often 
long  and  broad  than  pointed.  The  tunic  is  worn  open 
in  a  V  at  the  neck,  and  is  belted  in  at  the  waist.  Cor¬ 
duroy  bath  robes  make  excellent  tunics  and  so  do 
draped  sheets.  Over  the  tunic  is  worn  a  sleeveless  coat 
of  bright  material,  open  all  the  way  down  the  front, 
and  often  reaching  to  the  floor.  The  coat  does  not  come 
together,  even  at  the  neck.  It  is  perfectly  straight  on 
the  shoulders  and  at  the  sides.  There  is  an  armhole 
opening  of  about  eight  inches  for  the  sleeve  of  the  tunic 
to  pass  through. 

“A  very  satisfactory  coat  can  be  improvised  from  any 
appropriately  colored  drapery  of  sufficient  width  to 
make  the  length  of  the  coat.  Place  the  center  of  one 
edge  at  the  back  of  the  neck  of  the  person  to  be  cos¬ 
tumed,  and  bring  the  ends  under  the  arms  and  fasten 
up  close  to  the  neck  on  the  shoulders.  Sew  the  edges 
together,  leaving  room  for  the  arms  to  come  through. 
This  garment  should  be  fastened  under  the  arms  at  the 
waist  with  a  large  safety-pin,  so  that  the  coat  will  fall 
apart  gracefully  all  the  way  down  the  front. 

“A  flat-topped  or  high  rounded  skull-cap  of  red  or 
other  bright  color  is  often  worn.  A  wide  strip  of  cloth 


70  A  Guide  io  Religious  Pageantry 

of  contrasting  color  is  twisted  and  bound  round  the  cap. 
Or,  a  scarf,  square  or  oblong,  may  be  draped  over  the 
head  so  that  it  falls  over  the  shoulders,  and  is  fastened 
in  place  by  means  of  a  cord  or  twisted  piece  of  cloth.” 

Footwear. — “No  one  in  the  pageant  should  wear 
shoes  of  the  modern  American  kind.  White  or  light 
brown  stockings  should  be  worn,  with  or  without  san¬ 
dals  or  low-heeled  slippers.  Where  the  climate  permits, 
the  boys  may  be  barefooted.” 

Roman  Soldiers. — “The  Roman  soldiers  should  wear 
red  military  cloaks.  Imitations  of  leather  garments 
fitting  the  body  closely,  with  leather  strips  hanging 
down  all  around,  may  be  made  out  of  brown  cambric. 
Silver  paper  may  be  fastened  to  this  in  appropriate 
places  to  represent  armor.  A  kind  of  roofing  known 
as  Junior  Malthoid  makes  an  almost  exact  imitation  of 
steel,  and  is  very  flexible,  but  must  be  fastened  together 
with  wire.  Helmets  and  armor  may  be  made  of  this, 
or  of  cardboard  or  stiff  cloth  covered  with  silver  paper. 
Sometimes  helmets  can  be  borrowed  from  fraternal  or¬ 
ders.  If  the  imitation  leather  garments  are  worn  over 
khaki  trousers,  and  the  soldiers’  sandals  are  laced 
around  the  calf  of  the  leg  with  strips  of  red  cloth  over 
the  ordinary  khaki  puttees,  the  effect  will  be  very  good.” 

Shepherds. — “The  shepherds  should  wear  the  distinc¬ 
tive  shepherd’s  cloak.  This  may  be  made  of  a  sheet 
with  broad  stripes  of  black,  brown  or  dark  blue  basted 
on.  The  shepherds  may  carry  staves,  but  not  crooks, 
as  these  are  European — not  Oriental;  and  should  wear 
flowing  headdresses  bound  on  with  cords  and  falling 
over  neck  and  shoulders.  Two  or  three  of  the  Beth¬ 
lehem  boys  may  wear  miniature  cloaks  like  those  of  the 
shepherds.” 

Wise  Men. — “The  traditional  color  for  the  Wise  Men 
is  yellow,  so  the  outer  mantles  of  the  three  Magi  should 


71 


Costuming 

be  of  that  color.  The  mantle  is  much  like  a  cape,  reach¬ 
ing  about  halfway  to  the  knees,  or  longer.  If  they 
wear  purple  or  other  rich-colored  robes  under  these 
yellow  mantles,  the  effect  will  be  striking.  Their  cloth¬ 
ing  should  be  as  rich  and  elaborate  as  is  practicable, 
and  the  garments  of  their  train  of  servants  should  be 
more  showy  than  those  of  the  Bethlehem  people.  The 
Wise  Men  and  the  Babbi  may  wear  artificial  beards 
if  good  ones  are  to  be  had,  but  nothing  grotesque  is 
permissible.  In  general  it  is  better  to  omit  these.  The 
Wise  Men  should  wear  turbans  of  yellow  or,  better, 
flowing  yellow  headdresses.” 

Other  Characters. — “Prophecy  and  History  should 
be  in  white  flowing  garments,  Grecian  style,  without  any 
color  additions  unless  the  name-ribbon  is  worn.  Judith 
should  be  in  white,  with  color  in  sash  and  headdress. 
Joel  and  possibly  some  other  Bethlehem  people  may 
wear  soft  or  dull  colors;  but  most  of  the  Bethlehem 
folks,  and  all  the  children,  should  wear  bright  colors, 
or  pleasing  softer  shades,  so  as  to  make  the  stage  picture 
varied,  brilliant  and  beautiful.  Harrow  stripes  are 
much  worn  in  Palestine.” 

The  Rabbi. — “The  Babbi  should  wear,  as  he  enters, 
a  rather  high  cap,  rounded  at  top,  and  bound  round  the 
brow  with  a  twisted  cloth  of  contrasting  color.  On 
his  forehead  he  wears  a  phylactery — the  little  square 
box  bound  on  with  narrow  black  ribbons.  In  this  cer¬ 
tain  texts  were  kept.  He  is  shod  with  sandals.  His 
tunic  is  sleeved  and  somewhat  close-fitting,  and  reaches 
to  the  ankles,  being  bound  at  the  waist  by  a  wide  girdle 
or  sash.  He  may  wear  a  mantle  draped  about  his 
shoulders  and  neck.  These  may  be  of  any  desired 
colors.  As  Joel  enters,  he  is  carrying  over  his  arm  the 
Babbi’s  prayer-shawl — a  large  square  piece  of  white 
cloth.  Each  corner  has  a  fringe  made  of  four  white 


72  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

threads  and  one  blue  one,  and  a  square  of  blue  cloth 
is  also  sewed  like  a  patch  on  each  corner.  Several  nar¬ 
row  stripes  of  blue  are  across  the  two  ends  of  the 
prayer-shawl.  When  the  Rabbi  sits  down  to  read  from 
the  Prophets,  Joel  will  fold  the  shawl  and  place  it  over 
the  Rabbi’s  head  (without  removing  the  cap)  in  such 
manner  that  as  the  shawl  hangs  down  over  the  shoulders 
the  stripes  will  come  across  the  arms.  The  Rabbi  will 
wear  this  during  the  remainder  of  the  pageant.” 

Missionary  Costuming.2 

Burma. — “For  the  skirt  about  two  yards  of  bright 
colored  silk  or  other  thin  striped  or  figured  material  is 
required.  Sew  the  ends  together,  the  pattern  running 
around  the  skirt,  not  up  and  down.  If  the  width  of  the 
goods  is  not  sufficient  to  make  the  length  of  the  skirt, 
sew  the  seam  around  the  middle  of  the  skirt,  or  sew  a 
piece  of  plain  goods  around  the  top.  The  skirt  is  tied 
or  pinned  about  the  waist. 

“With  this  should  be  worn  a  short  white  jacket  of 
thin  material  with  flowing  sleeves,  which  may  be 
trimmed  with  narrow  lace.  A  bright  silk  scarf  is 
thrown  over  the  shoulders.  The  hair  should  be  piled 
high  and  decorated  with  artificial  flowers.” 

Karen. — “The  Karen  skirt  is  similar  to  the  Burman. 
The  jacket  is  made  of  velvet  or  woolen  cloth.  Fold  a 
breadth  of  the  goods  twice  the  required  length  for  the 
jacket  in  the  middle  to  make  the  shoulders,  which  should 
be  without  seam.  Sew  up  the  sides,  leaving  sufficient 
space  for  armholes  at  the  top.  Cut  a  V-shaped  open¬ 
ing  for  the  neck  and  trim  as  elaborately  as  possible 

2  These  suggestions  are  taken  from  a  little  pamphlet  “Oriental 
Costumes  and  How  to  Make  Them/’  published  by  the  Woman’s 
American  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary  Society.  Permission  of 
The  Board  of  Education  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention  (De¬ 
partment  of  Missionary  Education,  William  A.  Hill,  Secretary). 


73 


Costuming 

with  Persian  or  other  bright  colored  trimming.  Slip 
the  jacket  on  over  the  head  and  wear  over  a  white 
jacket  or  shirt-waist.” 

China. — “Wear  a  plain  black  skirt  or  wide  trousers 
reaching  to  the  ankles.  Make  the  full  Chinese  jacket 
from  blue  or  white  cambric.  The  pattern  for  this  jacket 
can  easily  be  approximated  from  pictures,  or  possibly 
one  can  be  secured  from  a  Chinese  friend. 

“For  a  boy  a  round  cap  of  velvet  or  cloth  with  a  long 
queue  of  braided  worsted  sewed  to  the  back  is  very 
effective.” 

Japan. — “This  requires  a  Japanese  kimono  with 
wide  square  sleeves,  for  which  a  pattern  can  easily  be 
obtained,  made  from  cotton  crepe  or  any  desired  mate¬ 
rial.  Wear  with  this  a  wide  sash  of  silk  or  cambric  of 
bright  color,  tied  in  a  large  square  bow  high  in  the 
back.  Hair  in  butterfly  bows  with  ornaments,  fancy 
hatpins,  tiny  fans,  etc.” 

India. — “This  costume  requires  eight  or  ten  yards 
of  cheesecloth  or  muslin,  white  or  of  some  bright  color. 
The  goods  should  be  at  least  one  yard  wide  to  form  the 
length  of  the  skirt.  Hold  one  end  in  the  left  hand  and 
bring  the  goods  tightly  around  the  hips  to  the  front  and 
tie  the  upper  corner  firmly  to  the  upper  edge  of  the 
goods  held  in  the  right  hand.  Bring  the  cloth  snugly 
around  the  body  once  and  then  the  long  end  should 
be  laicf  in  plaits  to  within  three  or  four  yards  of  the 
end.  Tuck  these  plaits  in  over  the  knot  in  the  middle 
of  the  front,  bringing  the  fullness  about  six  inches  be¬ 
low  the  waist  line.  Pass  the  loose  end  of  the  cloth  on 
over  the  left  hip,  up  under  the  right  arm  and  over  the 
left  shoulder,  bringing  it  around  over  the  right  shoul¬ 
der  where  the  end  is  left  hanging  loose.  The  loose  end 
can  be  brought  up  over  the  head,  if  desired,  to  form 
a  head  covering.  A  short  jacket  is  worn  underneath, 


74  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

cut  in  a  low  V-shape  at  the  neck  and  tied  in  a  hard  knot 
over  the  bust.  The  very  tight  sleeves  may  be  cut  off  just 
above  the  elbow  or  halfway  to  the  shoulder,  or  an  ordi¬ 
nary  plain  white  waist  may  be  worn  under  the  costume. 
All  Hindu  women,  Brahman  and  others,  wear  the  same 
general  costume,  the  only  difference  being  in  the  ex¬ 
pensiveness  of  material  used. 

“Use  as  many  bright  colored  bead  necklaces  and  gold 
and  silver  chains  as  possible.  Cover  the  arms  with 
bracelets  and  the  fingers  with  rings.  A  jeweled  band 
across  the  forehead  and  earrings  made  of  brass  wire 
with  beads  to  hang  over  the  ears  greatly  heighten  the 
effect.” 

Mohammedan  Woman. — “A  Mohammedan  woman 
always  wears  in  public  the  purdah  or  outside  covering, 
and  this  is  the  most  effective  and  distinctive  costume  in 
which  she  can  be  represented.  The  purdah  can  be  made 
from  two  sheets  sewed  together  at  the  sides,  forming  a 
bag  open  at  both  ends.  Gather  the  upper  edge  and  sew 
around  a  small  circle  of  cloth  cut  to  fit  the  top  of  the 
head.  This  hangs  full  to  the  floor.  Cut  a  small  triangu¬ 
lar  opening  or  round  eye  holes  over  the  face  and  fill  in 
this  opening  with  heavy  black  veiling.  For  speaking 
the  triangular  opening  is  better,  as  the  voice  can  be  more 
distinctly  heard.  The  same  effect  can  be  secured  by 
sewing  together  breadths  of  cheesecloth  and  gathering 
at  the  top  in  the  same  way.” 

Syria  or  Arabia. — “To  make  the  long  loose  robe  re¬ 
quired  for  this  costume,  fold  a  strip  of  goods  over  in 
the  middle  to  form  the  shoulders,  which  should  be  with¬ 
out  seam.  Sew  up  the  sides,  inserting  gores  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  if  necessary  for  width  of  skirt,  leaving  armholes 
at  the  top.  Sew  in  straight  long  sleeves  without  shap¬ 
ing  the  armholes.  Tie  a  girdle  or  sash  about  the  waist, 
with  the  knot  in  front,  and  blouse  the  robe  both  back 


Costuming  75 

and  front  over  the  girdle.  Cut  a  round  or  square  open¬ 
ing  for  the  neck  and  trim  around  the  edge  if  desired. 
A  strip  of  silk  two  yards  long  is  worn  over  the  head 
and  brought  over  the  face  as  a  veil.” 

Africa. — “An  effective  costume  for  Africa  is  a  red 
muslin  Mother  Hubbard  without  yoke  or  sleeves,  a  red 
kerchief  crossed  over  the  shoulders.  The  face  and  arms 
can  be  blackened  and  black  stockings  worn  over  the 
shoes.  Necklaces  of  gaudy  beads,  bracelets  of  every  de¬ 
scription,  and  anklets  of  brass  or  iron  add  to  the  general 
effect.” 

Philippines. — “The  costume  of  the  Filipino  or  Visa- 
yan  women  consists  of  a  bright  colored  plaid  skirt,  with 
or  without  a  short  black  overskirt  reaching  to  the  knees 
and  caught  up  at  one  side.  With  this  is  worn  a  white 
waist  cut  low  with  a  wide  flaring  collar.  The  sleeves 
are  very  wide  and  cover  the  amis  as  far  as  the  elbow. 
A  white  neck  scarf  or  embroidered  handkerchief  com¬ 
pletes  the  costume.” 


CHAPTER  VII 


HELPS  PROM  PICTURES - WHERE  TO  GET  THEM 

TO  one  who  has  the  task  of  directing  a  pageant  there 
is  no  better  help  than  that  of  pictures.  This  is 
particularly  true  in  the  matter  of  costuming.  One  of 
the  difficult  problems  of  pageantry  is  that  of  giving  a 
true  setting,  representative  of  the  time,  and  historically 
accurate.  As  has  been  stated  before,  this  accuracy  is 
only  relatively  attained,  and  is  found  in  its  truest  type 
in  works  of  art,  particularly  painting.  The  art  can¬ 
vasses  of  the  world  furnish  a  rich  array  of  suggestions 
for  all  forms  of  pageantry,  religious  and  secular. 

Fortunately  for  the  teacher  of  religion  the  works  of 
art  on  religious  subjects  are  very  numerous.  Religion 
has  always  been  a  favored  theme  for  the  greatest  mas¬ 
ters  and  the  world’s  greatest  pictures  have  found  their 
genesis  and  inspiration  in  the  Bible. 

Modern  methods  of  printing  and  engraving  have 
made  it  possible  to  reproduce  these  masterpieces  at 
small  cost,  so  that  everyone  may  see  them  in  almost 
their  original  charm.  For  only  a  few  pennies  one 
may  have  the  “Sistine  Madonna,”  the  “Moses”  of 
Michelangelo,  or  “The  Christ”  or  Hofmann.  For  a 
few  dollars  the  rich  treasures  of  the  museums  of  the 
earth  may  be  brought  into  one’s  own  room,  and  there 
mental  visits  made  to  the  Louvre,  the  British  National 
Gallery,  the  art  treasuries  of  Florence  and  those  prom¬ 
ising  ones  so  rapidly  growing  in  America. 

76 


Helps  from  Pictures — Where  to  Get  Them  77 

Appropriate  Picture  Study. — The  director  of  a 
pageant  would  do  well  to  secure  a  group  of  pictures 
bearing  on  the  theme  of  the  play,  and  have  the  cast 
study  them.  Nothing  will  so  quickly  put  an  actor  into 
the  spirit  of  the  time  of  the  action  and  make  him  feel 
at  home  in  the  general  arrangement  of  things.  Sets 
of  Old  Testament  pictures  may  he  secured  at  small 
cost,  also  pictures  of  the  life  of  Christ,  Christmas  pic¬ 
tures,  Easter  pictures,  Madonnas  and  almost  every¬ 
thing  that  has  found  its  way  into  art  galleries.  These 
pictures  are  very  cheap  and  may  he  bought  as  low  as 
one  and  two  cents  each.  Other  helpful  suggestions  will 
he  found  in  the  second  volume  of  Tissot’s  Bible,  en¬ 
titled  “The  Life  of  Our  Savior,  Jesus  Christ.”  Also, 
in  “Bible  Manners  and  Customs,”  by  Bev.  G.  M. 
Mackie,  and  in  “The  Bible  Story,”  by  James  Baikie, 
are  valuable  pictorial  suggestions. 

For  the  convenience  of  those  who  may  desire  to  order 
religious  subjects,  the  following  partial  list  of  pub¬ 
lishers  is  given:  v 

The  Perry  Picture  Company,  Malden,  Mass.  This 
concern  supplies  pictures  of  various  sizes  and  prices. 
They  have  hundreds  of  reproductions  and  can  furnish 
almost  anything  desired. 

George  P.  Brown  and  Company,  Beverly,  Mass.,  car¬ 
ries  an  attractive  list  of  pictures  of  all  descriptions. 
Old  Testament,  Christmas,  Easter,  and  the  Life  of 
Christ  may  be  secured  in  sets  at  moderate  cost. 

Underwood  and  Underwood,  Inc.,  417  Fifth  Avenue, 
New  York,  make  pictures  of  almost  everything  under 
the  sun.  They  sell  an  excellent  lot  of  stereographic  pic¬ 
tures  showing  costumes  and  manners  of  people  of  va¬ 
rious  countries. 

Toni  Landau  Photographic  Company,  1  East  45th 
Street,  New  York,  line  art  publishers,  furnish  higher 


78  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

priced  prints.  Black  and  white  from  one  or  two  dol¬ 
lars  to  thirty,  and  colored  prints  ranging  as  high  as 
sixty  dollars. 

The  New  York  Sunday  School  Commission,  73  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York,  is  the  accredited  distributor  of  the 
Tissot  pictures,  size  5"  x  6".  Many  of  these  pictures  are 
in  color  and  are  very  valuable  aids  in  costuming.  These 
are  inexpensive. 

A  very  useful  little  book  on  this  subject  is  “Pictures 
in  Beligious  Education,”  by  Frederica  Beard,  George 
H.  Doran  Company,  New  York.  This  book  will  be  in¬ 
valuable  to  any  teacher  or  religious  worker. 

All  denominational  publishing  houses  can  furnish 
suitable  pictures  and  can  give  valuable  information  re¬ 
garding  religious  prints. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


DESCRIPTIVE  LIST  OF  PLAYS  AND  PAGEANTS  SUITABLE 
FOR  USE  IN  CHURCHES,,  SUNDAY"  SCHOOLS  AND  OTHER 
RELIGIOUS  ORGANIZATIONS. 

TO  use  this  list  effectively  see  below  Topical  Index 
indicating  the  general  classification  of  plays  and 
pageants,  and  also  the  General  Index,  which  is  alpha¬ 
betically  arranged  for  the  whole  List. 

TOPICAL  INDEX  TO  PAGEANT  LIST 


.  PAGE 

Boys  and  Girls . 84 

Children  . 87 

Christmas . 91 

Easter . 99 

General,  Community . 101 

General,  Religious . 103 

Missions,  Foreign . 116 

Missions,  Home . 122 

Old  Testament . 127 

Thanksgiving . 131 

ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 

Advance  the  Line . 103 

Adze-Head,  The . 103 

Alice’s  Housewarming . 84 

Alice  Through  the  Postal  Card . 84 

America,  Yesterday  and  To-day . 101 

Bible  Plays  for  Children . 87 

79 


80  A  Guide  io  Religious  Pageantry 

PAGE 

Biblical  Dramas . 127 

Birth  of  Christ,  The . 91 

Blue  Cashmere  Gown,  The . 122 

Book  of  Life,  The . 122 

Burden  Bearer,  The . 103 

Call  and  the  Answer,  The . 116 

Canvassers  and  Mr.  Brown,  The . 104 

Child  in  the  Midst,  The . 87 

Children  of  Israel,  The . 127 

Children  of  the  Christmas  Spirit . 87 

Children’s  Christmas  Dream,  The . 88 

Children's  Crusade,  The . 88 

Choice  of  Evils,  A . 116 

Christian  Year,  The . 92 

Christ  in  America . 123 

Christmas  Guest,  The . 92 

Christmas  Story,  The . 92 

Christmas  Tableaux . 92 

Church  Victorious  Through  Love,  The  ....  104 

Circle  Three  Sees  a  Vision . 123 

City  Beautiful,  The . 104 

Coming  of  the  Truth,  The . 105 

Community  Celebrations . 101 

Conquerors  of  the  Continent,  The  .  .  .  .  .  .  105 

Crossroads  Meetin’  House,  The . 106 

Dances,  Drills  and  Story-Plays . 101 

David,  a  Sacred  Drama . 127 

Dawning,  The . 99 

Daybreak  in  the  West . 123 

Dianah,  Queen  of  the  Berbers . 106 

Doors  of  Nippon,  The — The  Awakening  of  Japan  .  116 

Drama  of  Esther,  The . 128 

Drama  of  Isaiah,  The . 128 

Dramatic  Games  and  Dances  for  Little  Children  .  88 

Dramatic  Sketches  of  Mission  Fields . 117 

Dramatization  of  Bible  Stories . 88 

Dream  on  Christmas  Eve,  A . 93 

Eastertide . 99 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  81 

PAGE 

Enchanted  Garden,  The . 102 

Everywhere . 106 

Eirst  Thanksgiving  Dinner,  The . 131 

Florence  Nightingale . 106 

Folk  Festivals,  Their  Growth  and  How  to  Give  Them  102 

Foreign  Missionary  Dollar  and  What  Tt  Does,  The  .  117 

From  Darkness  to  Light . 123 

From  Italy  to  America . 124 

Garments  of  Praise . 107 

Gate  of  Vision,  The . 107 

Gift,  The . 107 

Gift  of  Self,  The . 108 

Gifts  We  Bring,  The . 93 

Good  King  Wencelas . 94 

Good  Samaritan,  and  Other  Bible  Stories  Dramatized  89 

Go  Tell . 99 

Great  Message,  The,  or  Barrie’s  Choice  ....  124 

Hanging  a  Sign . 118 

Help  Wanted  for  Miss  Liberty . 108 

Heroine  of  Ave,  The . 118 

Honorable  Mrs.  Ling’s  Conversion,  The  ....  118 

Hour  of  Waking,  The . 118 

How  the  Light  Came . 118 

How  to  Produce  Children’s  Plays . 89 

How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children . 90 

Idle  and  Ideal  Associate,  The . 108 

Its  Badiant  Hem . 119 

Jephthah’s  Daughter . 129 

Joseph  and  His  Brothers . 108 

Judas  Iscariot . 108 

Kosiki,  or  A  Korean  Village . 119 

Lamp,  The . 109 

Land  of  the  Golden  Man,  The . 109 

Larola . 119 

Last  Passover-Night,  The . 100 

Lifting  Hands,  The . .  .119 

Light-Bringers,  The  .  124 

Light  of  the  World . 94 


82  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 


Little  Pilgrims  and  the  Book  Beloved 

Little  Pilgrim’s  Progress,  The 

PAGE 

84 

131 

Little  Playbook,  The . 

99 

Livingstone  Hero  Plays . 

85 

Martha  Washington  and  the  Home  Mission  Children 

124 

Message  of  the  Christ-Child,  The  . 

94 

Mirror  for  Souls,  A . 

100 

Missionary  Clinic,  A . 

124 

Mission  of  the  Church,  The  .... 

109 

Mission  Study  Through  Educational  Dramatics  . 

120 

Mother  Goose  Village  Missionary  Meeting 

121 

Mystery  of  Epiphany,  The . 

110 

Nativity,  The . 

95 

New  Brooms  for  Old . 

125 

Next-Door  House,  The . 

95 

Night  Before  Christmas,  The  .... 

95 

No  Room  in  the  Inn . 

97 

Only  Way  Out  of  the  Dark,  The  . 

110 

Open  Door,  The . 

125 

Our  Father . 

110 

Out-Door  Story  Book,  The . 

90 

Pageant  of  Brotherhood,  The  .... 

111 

Pageant  of  Pilgrims,  A . 

131 

Pageant  of  the  Church,  A . 

111 

Passing  of  the  Kings,  The . 

112 

Passover-Night . 

112 

Pilgrim  and  the  Book,  The  .... 

112 

Pill  Bottle,  The . 

121 

Place  of  Meeting,  The . 

96 

Plea  of  the  Pennies,  The . 

121 

Producing  Amateur  Entertainments  . 
Promise  of  the  New  Day,  The  .... 

102 

85 

Prophetic  Child,  The . 

96 

Queen  Esther’s  Choice . 

129 

Quest,  The . 

113 

Rebekah . 

129 

Resurrection,  The . 

100 

Ring  of  Rama  Krishniah,  The  .... 

113 

Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants 

83 

PAGE 

Road  to  Bethlehem . 

97 

Bock,  The . 

113 

Ruth,  the  Loving . 

129 

Ruth’s  Donation  Party . 

85 

Sanctuary  :  A  Bird  Masque  .... 
Santa’s  Allies . 

103 

96 

Saul  and  Stephen . 

113 

Search  for  the  Light,  The . 

114 

Seeker,  The . 

114 

Set  of  the  Sail,  The . 

121 

Shepherds,  The . 

96 

Sin  of  Ahab,  The . 

130 

Shorter  Bible  Plays . 

91 

Songs  of  Grateful  Hearts . 

90 

Song  They  Sang,  The . 

85 

Soul  of  the  City,  The . 

125 

Spirit  of  Thanksgiving,  The  .... 

131 

Stable  Door,  The . 

114 

Standard  Bearers,  The . 

114 

Star  of  the  East,  The . 

130 

Starting  Right . 

115 

Story-Telling . 

91 

Striking  of  America’s  Hour,  The 

115 

Three  Plays  for  Boys . 

86 

Three  Roses  and  Other  Christmas  Plays  . 

96 

Three  Song  Festival  Programs  . 

91 

Through  the  Sunday  School  Door  . 
Triumph  of  Peace,  The . 

86 

115 

Two  Thousand  Miles  for  a  Book  . 

125 

Uncle  Sam’s  Congress  of  Methods 

121 

Uncle  Sam’s  Foundlings . 

125 

Vision  of  the  Home-Land,  A  . 

126 

Visions  of  World  Freedom . 

126 

Visitors  from  Ellis  Island . 

86 

Voices  of  the  Stars,  The . 

97 

Waiting  for  the  Doctor . 

122 

Wayside  Piper,  The . 

126 

When  the  Star  Shone . 

98 

84 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 


PAGE 


Who  Is  My  Neighbor? . 116 

Why  Didn’t  You  Tell? . 100 

Why  the  Chimes  Bang . 98 

World’s  Christmas  Fireplace,  The . 99 

Youth’s  Easter . 100 


Boys  and  Girls 

Alice  s  House  Warming.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

An  Americanization  play  from  Children’s  House  of 
Friendship  Plays.  Characters :  6  boys  and  8  girls,  J unior 
Department.  Costumes  easily  made.  Playing  time :  30 
minutes.  Published  by  the  Interchurch  Press,  45  West 
18th  Street,  New  York. 

Alice  Through  the  Postal  Card.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

The  postal-card  door  is  arranged  through  which  Alice 
comes  into  Japan.  Play  for  boys  and  girls  of  Junior  age. 
Playing  time:  30  minutes.  Published  by  the  Missionary 
Education  Movement  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Price,  15  cents. 

The  Drama  of  Esther.  Listed  under  Old  Testament  Plays. 

The  First  Thanksgiving  Dinner.  Listed  under  Thanks¬ 
giving. 

The  Gift  of  Self.  Listed  under  General  Religious. 

Good  King  Wencelas.  Listed  under  Christmas. 

Help  Wanted  for  Miss  Liberty .  Listed  under  General 
Religious. 

The  Honorable  Mrs.  Ling’s  Conversion.  Listed  under 
Foreign  Missions. 

The  Little  Pilgrims  and  the  Book  Beloved.  By  Marie  J. 
Hobart. 

A  mystery  play  suitable  for  boys  and  girls  of  Junior  age. 
Characters:  30  or  more.  Published  by  Educational  Divi¬ 
sion,  Department  of  Missions,  281  Fourth  Avenue,  New 
York. 

The  Little  Pilgrim’s  Progress.  Listed  under  Thanksgiving. 


\ 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  85 

Livingstone  Hero  Plays.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

Four  Plays:  The  Mill  Boy,  A  Fight  with  a  Lion ,  The 
Slave  Raiders,  and  Faithful  Friends.  These  plays  consist 
of  four  incidents  in  David  Livingstone’s  life.  They  may 
be  given  separately  or  in  one  performance.  The  whole 
service  can  be  given  in  45  or  50  minutes.  Suitable  for 
Junior  Departments.  Number  of  characters:  12  to  50. 
Costumes  are  simple  and  can  be  easily  made.  Published  by 
the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

Martha  Washington  and  the  Home  Mission  Children. 
Listed  under  Home  Missions. 

Queen  Esthers  Choice.  Listed  under  Old  Testament  Plays. 

The  Promise  of  the  New  Day.  By  D.  W.  Jones,  High 
School  Boy’s  Work  Secretary,  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

“A  pageant  dealing  with  the  foursquare  development — 
mental,  physical,  devotional,  and  service — of  a  boy,  setting 
forth  the  results  in  world  progress  which  may  be  expected 
when  boys  have  the  advantage  of  an  all-round  develop¬ 
ment.”  Published  by  the  Association  Press,  New  York. 

Ruth’s  Donation  Party.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

Arranged  for  11  Junior  boys  and  girls.  Playing  time: 
20  or  30  minutes.  Published  by  Missionary  Education 
Movement  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  160  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York.  Price,  15  cents. 

Santas  Allies.  Listed  under  Christmas. 

The  Song  They  Sang.  By  Laura  Scherer  Copenhaver. 

A  missionary  play  for  girls  in  which  the  opening  scene 
shows  a  group  of  American  girls  sitting  about  a  tea  table. 
The  pamphlet  carries  very  helpful  suggestions  concerning 
costumes  and  general  directions  for  presentation.  Pub¬ 
lished  by  Literature  Headquarters,  W.  M.  S.  (Lutheran), 
844  Drexel  Building,  Philadelphia. 


86 


A  C! aide  io  Religious  Pageantry 

The  Soul  of  the  City.  Listed  under  Home  Missions. 

The  Spirit  of  Thanksgiving.  Listed  under  Thanksgiving. 

“Three  Plays  for  Boys.”  By  Frederick  L.  Fay,  Scout¬ 
master  Troop  3,  B.  S.  A.,  Boston,  and  M.  A.  Emerson, 
Ph.D.,  Instructor  at  Boston  University. 

These  three  plays  are  written  for  boys  and  are  found  in  a 
little  booklet  published  by  the  Association  Press,  New  York. 

(1)  A  Regular  Fellow.  A  three-act  play  running  about 
60  minutes.  The  scene  is  laid  in  a  boys’  camp  in  New 
Hampshire  in  which  a  young  lad  named  Harold  has  a 
chance  to  prove  to  his  fellow  camp  mates  that  he  is  a 
“regular  fellow.” 

(2)  Lend  a  Hand.  A  dramatic  sketch  given  for  Boy 
Scout  demonstration  in  First  Aid  and  Signaling.  This 
little  play  makes  a  strong  appeal  to  boys  and  carries  with  it 
a  wholesome  atmosphere  of  outdoor  life. 

(3)  If  I  Were  Bob.  This  is  another  camp  drama  for 
boys.  The  Boy  Scouts  are  found  amusing  themselves 
around  the  camp  fire  telling  of  what  they  would  do  were 
they  old  enough  to  become  a  soldier,  etc.  The  costumes  are 
the  regular  uniforms  of  the  Boy  Scouts  of  America. 

Through  the  Sunday  School  Door.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

A  Children’s  Day  play  for  boys  and  girls.  13  characters. 
Costumes  very  simple.  May  be  given  in  any  small  Church 
or  Sunday  School.  Published  by  Every  land  Press,  160 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

Visitors  from  Ellis  Island.  By  Mrs.  E.  C.  Cronk. 

A  little  play  for  boys  and  girls  prepared  in  simple  form, 
so  that  it  may  be  given  by  a  Sunday  School  or  class.  Pub¬ 
lished  by  Literature  Headquarters,  W.  M.  S.  (Lutheran), 
844  Drexel  Building,  Philadelphia. 

Waiting  for  the  Doctor.  Listed  under  Foreign  Missions. 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  87 


Children 


“Bible  Plays  for  Children.”  By  Mae  Stein  Soble. 

A  very  useful  book  for  teachers  of  children.  Contains 
valuable  suggestions  for  the  teacher  and  the  following  Bible 
plays : 


The  Garden  of  Eden 
The  First  Temptation  . 
The  First  Tear  . 

Why  Pharaoh  Was  Wicked 
Mother  Love  Finds  a  Way 
Moses  the  Shepherd . 

The  Call  of  God  . 

The  Golden  Calf . 

The  Promised  Land . 

The  Might  of  Right . 


A  Story  Play 
A  Dramatization 
A  Legend 
A  Legend 
A  Dramatization 
An  Interpretation 
A  Dramatization 
A  Dramatization 
A  Dramatization 
A  Dramatization 


m * 


Published  by  James  T.  White  &  Co 


New  York. 


The  Child  in  the  Midst.  By  Katharine  Stanley  Hall. 

This  is  a  child  pageant.  The  prologue  is  spoken  by  a 
Senior  boy  or  girl.  Playing  time  within  the  compass  of  30 
minutes.  Published  by  the  Abingdon  Press,  New  York. 


Children  of  the  Christmas  Spirit.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

Characters :  “The  Spirit  of  Christmas — a  girl  of  sixteen 
or  seventeen  or  a  young  woman, — an  Austrian  girl,  a 
Dutch  boy  and  girl,  a  German  boy  and  girl — a  French  boy 
and  girl — an  English  boy  and  girl — an  American  girl; 
children  from  ten  to  thirteen.  American  girl  should  be 
one  of  the  older  children  chosen. 

“An  Eskimo  boy — a  North  American  Indian  boy — a 
Hindoo  girl — a  Japanese  girl — a  Chinese  boy — an  Arab 
boy :  some  of  these  children  may  be  younger  than  ten  if 
desired.  The  Japanese  girl  should  be  the  smallest.” 

Published  by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New 
Fork.  Price,  25  cents. 


88 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

The  Children  s  Christmas  Dream.  By  Mary  E.  Telford. 

This  is  a  little  Christmas  play  in  one  act  that  may  be 
staged  without  difficulty.  In  it  one  finds  the  true  spirit  of 
“giving”  with  a  splendid  missionary  climax.  Arthur  H. 
Strouse  Publishing  Company,  Chicago. 

The  Children  s  Crusade.  By  Madeleine  Sweeny  Miller. 

This  is  a  Centenary  pageant  written  for  the  Sunday 
School.  The  author  makes  the  following  observation : 

“Realizing  the  importance  and  the  difficulty  of  ade- 
cpiately  presenting  the  Centenary  to  the  young  people  of 
onr  Sunday  Schools,  I  have  built  up  during  the  past 
months  the  following  Pageant,  based  upon  that  fascinating 
episode  from  thirteenth-century  French  history,  the  cru¬ 
sade  of  the  children,  and  have  incorporated  in  it  four 
typical  missionary  situations  demanding  of  the  youth  of 
the  present  age  the  same  Christian  chivalry  as  was  dis¬ 
played  by  the  early  French  children.  All  of  the  scenes 
will  be  found  to  abound  in  animation  and  music.  Part 
Two  is  up-to-the-minute  in  timeliness,  conveying  much  of 
the  current  patriotism  expressing  itself  in  Refugee  Relief 
Work,  College  Women’s  Units,  etc.” 

Published  by  the  Methodist  Book  Concern,  New  York. 

The  Christmas  Guest.  Listed  under  Christmas. 

Christmas  Tableaux.  Listed  under  Christmas. 

Dramatic  Games  and  Dances  for  Little  Children.  By 
Carolyn  Crawford. 

Published  by  A.  S.  Barnes,  30  Irving  Place,  New  York. 
Price,  $2.40. 

“The  Dramatization  of  Bible  Stories.”  By  Elizabeth 
Erwin  Miller. 

“The  author  presents  plays  in  the  making,  from  the 
crudest  beginnings  to  the  relatively  finished  product  as 
finally  presented  by  children.  All  plays  were  prepared  by 
children  under  leadership,  and  all  the  old  favorites  such  as 
Joseph,  Daniel,  Goliath,  and  Moses,  appear.  To  these  have 


89 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants 


been  added  other  stories  both  long  and  short,  and  several 
parables.  The  author  also  suggests  a  considerable  number 
of  biblical  episodes  which  might  be  presented  as  plays, 
after  being  worked  up  by  the  processes,  she  describes. 

“The  problems  of  scenery,  equipment,  costumes,  time 
and  place  are  shown  to  be  easily  solved  through  the  use 
of  the  ingenuity,  willing  work,  and  imagination  of  the 
children.  Suggestions  are  reinforced  by  illustrations  of 
children  in  process  of  playing,  or  of  properties  constructed 
by  them.  The  simplicity  of  all  plans  renders  the  book 
useful  in  the  home  group  as  well  as  in  larger  groups/’ 

Published  by  the  University  of  Chicago  Press,  Chicago. 
Price,  $1.25. 

A  Dream  of  Christmas  Eve.  Listed  under  Christmas. 


“The  Good  Samaritan,  and  Other  Bible  Stories  Drama¬ 
tized.”  By  Edna  Earle  Cole  Spencer. 

This  little  volume  contains  11  Old  Testament  stories  ill 
dramatic  form.  They  have  been  carefully  worked  out  by 
an  experienced  teacher  of  children:  The  Good  Samaritan, 
Paul  and  the  Jailer ,  A  King's  Life  Spared,  Esther ,  The 
Brave  Young  Queen,  Peter  and  the  Roman  Captain,  Two 
Journeys  to  Bethlehem ,  The  Story  of  the  Twelve  Spies, 
The  Story  of  Joseph,  Naaman  and  Gehazi,  The  Story  of 
the  Baby  Moses,  The  Story  of  Little  Samuel.  Published 
by  George  H.  Doran  Company,  New  York. 


«rri 


How  to  Produce  Children’s  Plays.”  By  Constance  D’Arcy 
Maekay. 

There  is  included  in  the  book  a  history  of  the  Children’s 
play  movement,  a  chapter  on  its  sociological  aspects,  and 
suggestions  for  new  fields,  as  well  as  chapters  on  play- 
producing,  scenery,  costumes  and  properties.  The  book 
discusses  the  special  needs,  of  public  schools,  social  settle¬ 
ments  and  camps,  and  has  lists  of  plays  for  such  places. 
There  is  a  bibliography  covering  the  whole  child-drama 
movement.”  Published  by  Henry  Holt  and  Company,  New 
York. 


90  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

“How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children.”  By  Sara  Cone 
Bryant. 

This  book  is  rich  in  suggestive  material.  It  gives  valu¬ 
able  hints  as  to  kinds  of  stories  and  the  matter  of  adapta¬ 
tion  to  particular  audiences.  This  book  will  be  found  to  be 
very  valuable  to  both  experienced  and  inexperienced  story¬ 
tellers.  Published  by  Brentano’s  Book  Shop,  Fifth  Ave¬ 
nue,  New  York.  Price,  $1.40. 

“The  Little  Playbook.”  By  Katharine  Lord. 

The  Greatest  Gift  (A  Christmas  Play). 

K at  fen’s  Garden . 

June  Magic  (A  Little  Play  for  the  Garden). 

The  Ministers  Dream  (A  Thanksgiving  Fantasy). 

The  Day  Will  Shakespeare  Went  to  Kenilworth  (A 
Pageant  Play). 

The  Yuletide  Rose  (A  Christmas  Miracle  Play). 

“These  plays  have  been  written  especially  for  production 
by  children  in  schools,  settlements  and  clubs.  They  are  so 
planned  that  the  settings  and  costumes  are  of  the  simplest 
kind,  and  the  dialogue  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  is  easily 
learned.  A  brief  Introduction  gives  suggestions  for  re¬ 
hearsing  the  plays.  All  the  plays  in  this  volume  have 
received  the  test  of  actual  production.” 

Published  by  Duffield  Company,  211  East  19th  Street, 
New  York. 

“The  Out-Door  Story  Book.”  By  Carolyn  Sherwin  Bailey. 

This  is  a  book  of  stories  for  very  young  children.  They 
give  children  an  insight  into  the  beauty  and  wonder  of 
nature.  Published  by  the  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston.  Price,  $1. 

“Songs  of  Grateful  Hearts.”  A  Children’s  Program  for 
Public  Thank-Offering  Meetings.  By  Mrs.  C.  E. 
Gardner. 

This  little  service  is  adapted  to  children  of  the  Primary 
and  Junior  departments.  Very  helpful  suggestions  are 
given  in  the  introduction  to  the  booklet.  Teachers  of 
children  will  find  this  a  very  helpful  means  of  arousing 


91 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and.  Pageants 

interest  in  their  classes.  Published  by  Literature  Head¬ 
quarters,  W.  M.  S.  (Lutheran),  844  Drexel  Building, 
Philadelphia. 

“Shorter  Bible  Plays.”  By  Rita  Benton. 

These  plays  are  designed  for  children,  and  have  been 
used  many  times  over  in  church  schools :  Noah's  Flood, 
The  Proving  of  Abraham,  Moses  in  the  Bulrushes,  TJp 
From  Egypt  to  the  Promised  Land,  The  Call  of  Samuel , 
David  and  Goliath,  The  Judgment  of  Solomon  (Longer 
Version),  The  Judgment  of  Solomon  (Shorter  Version), 
The  Good  Samaritan,  Manger  Service.  Published  by  the 
Abingdon  Press,  New  York. 

“Story-Telling.” 

This  pamphlet  is  published  by  the  Playground  and 
Recreation  Association  of  America,  1  Madison  Avenue, 
New  York. 

This  is  a  very  useful  booklet  in  that  it  gives  a  list  of  the 
best  books  on  story-telling,  with  valuable  suggestions  of  a 
general  nature.  Price,  10  cents. 

“Three  Roses  and  Other  Christmas  Plays.”  Listed  under 
Christmas. 

“Three  Song  Festival  Programs.”  By  H.  Augustine  Smith. 
Three  little  song  services  designed  for  Children’s  Week : 

1.  “Song  Festival  of  the  Seasons.” 

2.  “Song  Festival  of  the  Twelve  Months.” 

3.  “The  Life  of  Christ.” 

Published  by  the  Century  Company,  353  Fourth  Avenue, 
New  York.  Price,  15  cents. 

Why  Didn’t  You  Tell ?  Listed  under  Easter. 

Christmas 

The  Birth  of  Christ.  By  Paul  Bliss. 

This  is  a  combined  reading  and  singing  service.  Con¬ 
sists  of  6  tableaux  with  singing  and  descriptive  readings 
from  the  Scripture.  The  tableau  part  requires  at  least 
8  women.  Children  or  men  might  be  used  by  special 


92 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

adaptation.  Characters:  Mary,  Joseph,  Three  Wise  Men, 
Three  (or  more)  Shepherds.  This  Christmas  entertain¬ 
ment  is  adapted  for  Church,  Sunday  School  or  home  use. 
Published  by  the  Willis  Music  Company,  Cincinnati.  Price, 
60  cents. 

The  Childrens  Christmas  Dream .  Listed  under  Children. 

The  Christian  Year.  By  Margaret  H.  Wentworth. 

A  Christmas  mystery  play  during  the  days  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  At  least  25  characters  are  necessary.  The 
actors  impersonate  the  Church  seasons,  the  Saints,  a  village 
pastor  and  two  of  his  peasant  flock  in  England.  Published 
by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company,  211  State  Street, 
Hartford,  Conn. 

The  Christmas  Guest.  By  C.  D.  MacKay. 

This  play  is  taken  from  a  book  of  children’s  plays,  “The 
House  of  the  Heart.”  Characters:  3  male,  5  female.  A 
medieval  miracle  play,  written  in  verse,  1  act.  Suitable 
for  Church  use.  Published  by  Henry  Holt  and  Company. 
Price,  $1.25. 

The  Christmas  Story.  By  Virginia  A.  Griswold. 

“This  is  the  Bible  story  of  the  birth  of  the  Christ,  using 
the  Bible  language  as  far  as  possible.  It  lends  itself  to  4 
scenes:  The  hill  country  of  Judea,  the  throne-room  of 
Herod,  the  market  place  in  Bethlehem  and  the  stable  with 
the  manger.  It  can  be  produced  in  the  simplest  manner  on 
a  platform,  or  with  all  the  Oriental  setting  and  accessories 
which  the  imagination  and  means  can  provide.  Plays 
about  an  hour,  and  any  number  of  people,  adults  and  chil¬ 
dren  can  be  used.  Makes  an  admirable  Christmas  enter¬ 
tainment  and  is  well  adapted  for  the  use  of  churches  and 
schools.” 

Published  by  Samuel  French,  New  York.  Price,  35 
cents. 

Christmas  Tableaux.  By  Nora  Archibald  Smith. 

These  tableaux  are  included  in  a  book,  “Plays,  Panto¬ 
mimes  and  Tableaux  for  Children,”  and  are  as  follows: 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  93 

(1)  Christmas  in  England. 

(2)  Christmas  ivith  the  Children. 

(3)  A  Christmas  Garland, 

Published  by  Moffat,  Yard  Company,  31  Union  Square, 
New  York.  Price,  $2. 

A  Dream  on  Christmas  Eve.  Bv  Ilia  Home. 

This  little  play  is  written  for  children  and  may  be  given 
in  about  thirty  minutes,  though  if  desired  may  be  length¬ 
ened.  The  costuming  is  simple  and  may  be  done  by  any 
religious  worker  who  will  take  the  time  to  study  a  group  of 
standard  Bible  pictures.  Published  by  Samuel  French, 
New  York. 

“The  story  is  the  dream  of  a  little  girl  on  Christmas  Eve, 
in  which  she  views  the  good  things  which  she  is  to  receive 
on  the  morrow.  Santa  Claus  enters  and  while  filling  the 
stocking  tells  a  story  of  the  little  people  to  whom  he  gives 
his  presents.  Then  the  Christmas  pudding  enters  and  tells 
how  she  was  made.  Then  the  pumpkin  pie,  the  holly,  mis¬ 
tletoe,  ice  cream,  crackers,  candy,  etc.,  enter  and  tell  their 
stories.  The  play  is  easy  to  give  and  can  be  given  in  the 
class  room,  Sunday  School  or  home.”  Price,  30  cents. 

The  Gifts  We  Bring.  The  publishers,  T.  S.  Denison  and 
Company,  623  S.  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago,  give  this 
synopsis : 

“A  Christmas  pageant  in  2  episodes.  Cast  60  to  500 
people.  Time:  one  hour.  For  community  production, 
clubs,  schools,  colleges,  churches,  Boy  Scouts,  Camp  Fire 
groups,  etc.  Has  been  given  with  casts  of  children,  with 
high  school  girls  and  boys,  with  university  students  and 
with  mixed  groups  from  grades,  high  schools  and  Sunday 
Schools.  It  is  the  story  of  Christmas  told  by  the  mother. 
The  music  used  is  Christmas  carols  and  familiar  airs. 
Contains  groups  of  snowbirds,  automatic  toys,  jumping 
jacks,  candles,  candy  sticks,  colored  balls,  tinsel  fairies, 
poinsettia  and  holly.  There  is  old  Santa  Goodfellow  and 
fairies  of  peace,  love  and  good  will.  Simple,  attractive, 
characteristic  dances  are  given.  An  entire  second  produc- 


94 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

tion  for  use  in  churches  substitutes  marches  and  drills  for 
the  dances.  It  is  a  beautiful  pageant  and  serves  to  bring 
out  wonderfully  the  Christmas  spirit.  Contains  complete 
directions  for  staging,  costuming,  production,  etc.  Music 
is  all  in  one  collection  with  the  exception  of  a  few  well- 
known  Christmas  carols.  Eight  photographic  half-tones  of 
various  scenes  and  dances/’  Price,  postpaid,  $1. 

Good  King  Wencelas.  A  Christmas  Pantomime. 

“This  pantomime  was  given  at  Christmastide  in  a  coun¬ 
try  house.  The  parts  were  taken  by  3  boys,  aged  five, 
eight  and  ten,  and  a  girl  aged  seven.  It  is  printed  for  the 
use  of  those  who  wish  to  get  up  at  short  notice  and  with 
little  expense  and  trouble  an  appropriate  and  effective 
Christmas  entertainment,  that  requires  only  five  children 
to  fill  the  parts,  evergreens,  cotton,  etc.  (to  represent  the 
snow),  clothes-frames  or  screens,  and  some  simple  cos¬ 
tuming  (home-made)  and  furnishings  from  the  children’s 
play-room.” 

Published  by  the  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company, 
45  Church  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  15  cents. 

The  Light  of  the  World.  By  H.  Augustine  Smith. 

A  pageant  for  the  Christmas  season  and  for  Home  and 
Foreign  Missions.  (First  presentation  in  the  Imperial 
Theater,  Tokio,  Japan,  October  8,  1920,  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  Author.)  5  scenes.  Large  cast  necessary. 
Published  by  the  Century  Company,  353  Fourth  Avenue, 
New  York.  Price,  15  cents. 

The  Message  of  the  Christ-Child.  By  Marian  Manley. 

This  little  pageant  is  written  for  presentation  in  Sunday 
School.  In  this  production  is  shown  the  great  fear  in  the 
hearts  of  Chinese  children,  and  what  the  message  of  the 
Christ-Child  means  to  them.  It  is  very  effective  for 
Christmas  time.  Playing  time:  about  45  minutes.  16  or 
more  characters,  several  of  them  boys.  Published  by  the 
Abingdon  Press,  New  York. 


95 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants 
The  Nativity. 

This  dramatic  service  is  written  for  young  people  and 
is  composed  entirely  of  selections  from  the  Scriptures. 
Accompanying  the  play  are  full  instructions  for  stage  set¬ 
ting  and  other  helpful  hints  for  its  production.  Among 
the° characters  is  a  little  choir  of  15  to  20  children,  parts 
for  three  girls  and  eight  boys.  Samuel  French,  publisher, 
New  York. 

The  Next-Door  House.  By  Margaret  Cropper. 

A  Christmas  play  by  Margaret  Cropper.  “A  beautiful 
Christmas  mystery  by  an  able  author.  The  Virgin  and 
Child  visit  on  Christmas  Eve  the  house  of  the  woman, 
Down-in-the-Dust.”  A  short  play,  about  1  hour,  11  char¬ 
acters.  Published  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  New 
York.  Price,  10  cents. 

The  Night  Before  Christinas.  By  William  Patterson 
Taylor. 

This  little  play  may  be  given  in  1  hour,  though  it  con¬ 
tains  3  short  acts.  Published  by  Samuel  French,  New 
York. 

“The  first  act  presents  the  wondrous  and  hurried  night 
before  Christmas  preparation  activities  in  Santa’s  work¬ 
shop  at  the  North  Pole.  The  second  act  is  a  night  before 
Christmas  home  bed-chamber  incident,  involving  the  des¬ 
perate  situation  resulting  from  a  childish  difference  be¬ 
tween  two  brothers,  which  difference — “made  up”  true — 
introduces,  also,  the  woeful  possibilities  of  Santa’s  calami¬ 
tous  displeasure.  (In  this  and  the  last  act  the  children’s 
classic,  ‘The  Night  Before  Christmas,’  is  dramatized.)  In 
the  third  act  ‘All’s  Well  That  Ends  Well.’  A  quartet  sup¬ 
plies  the  music.  This  little  play  has  grown  during  years 
of  local  use  by  the  author  and  others.  Its  unbroken  success 
in  stirring  and  impressing  the  children  (and  the  ‘grown¬ 
ups,’  too — whom,  also,  the  author  aimed  to  reach)  was 
urged  as  a  reason  for  its  publication.  Strongly  recom¬ 
mended  as  an  entertainment  for  the  holiday  season.” 
Price,  30  cents. 


96 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

The  Place  of  Meeting.  By  H.  B.  Allan. 

A  mystery  play  of  to-day.  The  altar  is  shown  to  be  the 
true  meeting-place  between  this  world  and  the  next.  A 
Christmas  scene  in  three  acts;  fourteen  characters.  Pub¬ 
lished  by  The  Macmillan  Company.  Price,  $1. 

The  Prophetic  Child.  By  the  Pev.  Langley  Sears. 

This  is  a  Christmas  pageant,  written  in  7  scenes:  The 
Child  in  the  Manger,  The  Shepherds  and  the  Angels,  The 
Shepherd  and  the  Child,  The  People  of  Bethlehem  and  the 
Child,  The  Wise  Men  and  the  Child,  The  Praise  of  the 
Child.  Playing  time :  little  less  than  an  hour.  Published 
by  the  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston.  Price,  15  cents. 

Santa’s  Allies.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

These  suggestive  words  are  found  in  the  editor’s  note: 
Santas  Allies  is  based  upon  the  idea  of  the  “summer 
Christmas  tree.”  It  is  intended  as  an  entertainment  to  be 
presented  at  the  end  of  the  summer  by  a  group  of  boys  and 
girls  who  have  been  making  gifts  for  a  mission  school,  the 
children’s  ward  of  a  hospital,  or  the  Bed  Cross.  Used  in 
this  way,  it  should  help  to  promote  an  all-the-year-round 
Christmas  spirit,  which  is  but  another  name  for  the  spirit 
of  Christianity.  Published  by  the  Missionary  Education 
Movement  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York. 

The  Shepherds.  By  Katharine  Kenyon. 

A  Christmas  play.  Characters :  Shepherd,  Esther,  Rachel, 
Tobias,  Mark,  Simon,  Strange  Traveler.  For  the  tableau, 
the  Virgin,  Joseph,  two  or  four  Angels.  Published  by  The 
Macmillan  Company.  Price,  15  cents. 

“Three  Roses  and  Other  Christmas  Plays.”  By  Margaret 
Cropper. 

These  little  services,  designed  for  the  Christmas  season, 
are  very  beautiful. 

Three  Roses,  a  Christmas  play  for  children  in  tableaux 
and  scenes.  The  Child,  on  her  way  to  Bethlehem  on 
Christmas  Eve  with  her  gifts  of  three  roses  for  the  Christ- 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  97 


Child,  meets  others  without  gifts  and  gives  away  her  roses 
one  by  one.  Characters:  7  older  girls  or  women,  9  older 
boys  or  men,  a  girl,  a  boy,  a  choir  of  voices.  One  interior, 
one  exterior,  and  the  interior  of  the  stable.  Time :  1  hour. 
Published  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York.  Price, 
20  cents. 


No  Pioom  in  the  Inn,  a  Christmas  play  in  3  scenes. 
Again  on  Christmas  Eve  the  inn  is  full,  no  room  for  a 
strange  man,  woman  or  child.  But  the  little  son  of  the 
landlord  has  been  watching  for  the  strangers  and  directs 
them  to  the  stable.  Then  he  and  his  playmates  and  finally 
the  other  guests  in  the  inn  see  the  vision  and  offer  gifts  to 
the  Christ-Child  with  softened  hearts.  Characters:  the 
landlord,  his  son,  a  peddler,  a  laborer,  a  quarryman,  a  car¬ 
penter,  a  wounded  soldier,  a  man,  woman,  and  child,  some 
little  children.  One  interior,  two  exteriors.  Time :  1  hour. 
Published  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York.  Price, 
10  cents. 


The  Road  to  Bethlehem,  a  Christmas  play  for  little  chil¬ 
dren.  Children  from  other  lands  find  each  other  on  the 
road  to  Bethlehem  on  Christmas  Eve,  going  to  offer  gifts 
to  the  Christ.  Very  simple  and  beautiful,  short  speeches, 
but  the  tableaux  at  the  end  should  be  carefully  arranged. 
An  exterior,  an  interior.  Time:  45  minutes.  (From 
“Plays  and  Pageants  for  Parish  Use,  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.”)  Published  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  New 
Y  ork. 


The  Voices  of  the  Stars.  By  Frank  Moore  Jeffery. 

A  music  drama  requiring  care  in  preparation.  All  sing¬ 
ing  parts  are  written  in  the  musical  staff. 

“The  ancient  astrologers  drew  pictures  in  the  sky  that  to 
astronomers  have  become  the  constellation  of  astronomy. 
To  the  greater  planets  and  stars  they  gave  the  names  of  the 
characters  of  Mythology. 

“Through  this  mighty  host,  over  the  glittering  path  of 
the  innumerable  stars  of  the  Milky  Way,  it  is  assumed  in 
this  drama  that  the  Christ-Child  came  from  the  glories  of 


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A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 


the  heavenly  land  to  the  humble  conditions  of  earth  bring¬ 
ing  Good  Will  and  Peace.” 

Published  by  the  Century  Company,  New  York. 


By  Lyman  R.  Bayard. 

The  characters  represented : 


When  the  Star  Shone. 

A  Christian  pageant. 

Prophecy 
History 
Rabbi  Nathan  of  Bethlehem 
Joel,  His  Servant 
Benjamin,  His  Son 
Four  Shepherds 
Three  Wise  Men 
The  Wise  MeWs  Followers 


Marcus,  a  Roman  Soldier 
Tullius,  a  Roman  Soldier 
Judith,  the  RabbPs  Wife 
Sarah,  His  Daughter 
Hannah  and  Other  Bethle 
hem  Women 
Bethlehem  Men 
Bethlehem  Boys  and  Girls 


This  is  a  well-arranged  Christmas  service  with  all  music 
accompanying  the  pamphlet.  Full  directions  and  sugges¬ 
tions  for  producing  are  given  in  an  accompanying  folder. 
Published  by  Pageant  Publishers,  1206-1208  South  Hill 
Street,  Los  Angeles.  Price,  50  cents. 


Why  the  Chimes  Rang. 

This  little  play  in  one  act  is  written  by  Elizabeth 
McFadden. 

The  playing  time  is  about  one  and  one-half  hours. 
There  is  a  royalty  of  $5  on  this  drama  when  no  admission 
is  charged.  If  admission  is  charged  the  royalty  is  $10. 
The  publisher,  Samuel  French  of  New  York,  has  the 
following  to  say  about  it : 

“It  teaches  the  story  of  the  Christ-Child,  rather  than  the 
Byzantine  legend  of  Santa  Claus.  It  may  be  adapted  to 
the  ritual  of  any  Christian  denomination  by  slight  changes 
of  costume  and  setting.  It  offers  a  rare  opportunity  for  ex¬ 
quisite  church  music.  It  may  be  given  in  the  barest  room, 
against  a  background  of  Christmas  greens,  or  it  may  be  pre¬ 
sented  with  the  most  lavish  equipment  of  a  professional 
theater,  yet  both  productions  will  thrill  the  imagination 
and  touch  the  heart.  It  teaches  the  beauty  of  a  charity  that 
gives  heart  and  service  as  well  as  gold.”  Price,  35  cents. 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  99 

The  World's  Christinas  Fireplace.  By  Madeleine  Sweeny 

Miller. 

A  pageant  for  Christmas  relief  for  the  women  and 
children  of  Europe.  There  are  16  characters,  besides  the 
“Spirit  of  Christmas  Giving,”  and  a  group  of  boys  and 
girls  in  America.  This  is  a  brief  pageant  and  may  be  given 
in  20  or  30  minutes.  Published  by  the  Abingdon  Press, 
New  York. 

Easter 

The  Dawning.  By  Lyman  R.  Bayard. 

A  very  beautiful  pageant  that  has  won  many  successes  in 
various  Churches. 

“We  shall  stand  outside  the  gate  of  Jerusalem,  with  the 
sepulcher  of  Jesus  to  our  right,  and  shall  watch  those  of 
old  time  pass  back  and  forth  between  the  city  gate  and  the 
tomb.  We  shall  see  Peter  and  John  and  Thomas  and  the 
other  disciples.  We  shall  behold  the  faithful  women  go 
sorrowfully  to  the  tomb  to  anoint  the  beloved  body.  We 
shall  see  Joseph  of  Arimathsea,  and  Nicodemus,  and  the 
Centurion  of  Calvary,  of  whom  early  Christian  tradition 
says  that  his  name  was  Longinus,  and  that  he  became  a 
Christian  bishop  and  a  martyr  for  the  faith.  We  shall 
tarry  a  while  with  the  Jerusalem  children;  and  at  last  we 
shall  see  the  procession  come  back  from  the  glorious  scene 
of  the  Ascension  to  face  the  task  of  conquering  the  world.” 

Published  by  the  Pageant  Publishers,  1206-1208  South 
Hill  Street,  Los  Angeles.  Price,  50  cents. 

Eastertide.  By  Paul  Bliss. 

Arranged  for  three-part  chorus  of  women  or  children’s 
voices.  Seven  tableaux  with  singing  and  descriptive  read¬ 
ings.  Published  by  the  Willis  Music  Company,  Cincinnati. 
Price,  60  cents. 

“Go  Tell 

Missionary  play. 

This  is  a  beautiful  Easter  Missionary  play.  Characters : 
only  6  young  girls.  Time :  about  35  minutes.  Published 


100  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

by  The  Challenge,  Limited,  Effingham  House,  Arundel 
Street,  Strand,  W.  C.  2,  London.  Price,  twopence  each. 

The  Last  Passover  Night.  By  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner. 

This  brief  play  begins  with  the  scene  in  the  upper  room 
on  Good  Friday  eve.  “The  scene  is  simply  the  dramatiza¬ 
tion  of  some  pages  of  the  great  ‘Life  and  Times  of  Jesus 
the  Messiah’  by  a  scholar  to  whom  both  Jewish  and 
Christian  records  were  books  unsealed.”  Published  by  the 
Macmillan  Company,  New  York.  Price,  20  cents. 

A  Mirror  for  Souls.  By  Margaret  Cropper. 

This  is  an  old  English  mystery  play  of  exceptional 
beauty.  The  Messenger  brings  a  mirror  to  the  little  town 
and  all  the  inhabitants  see  themselves  as  they  really  are. 
Characters :  3  children,  6  women,  and  4  men.  Playing 
time:  about  one  and  one-half  hours.  Published  by  The 
Macmillan  Company,  New  York.  Price,  20  cents. 

The  Resurrection.  By  Rosamond  Kimball. 

Story  of  the  Resurrection  in  dramatic  form,  told  in  the 
language  of  the  Bible.  Illustrated  in  pantomime  and 
tableaux  with  organ  and  choir.  A  very  simple  service 
which  can  be  produced  without  difficulty.  Published  by 
Samuel  French,  New  York.  Price,  35  cents. 

Youth's  Easter.  By  Helen  L.  Wilcox. 

This  is  a  morality  play,  designed  for  Sunday  School  and 
Church  service.  There  are  16  speaking  parts.  44  charac¬ 
ters  are  necessary  for  the  cast,  though  as  many  as  250  may 
be  employed.  The  play  is  admirably  adapted  for  out-of- 
door  presentation.  Published  by  the  Interchurch  Press, 
New  York.  Price,  25  cents. 

Why  Didn't  You  Tell  ?  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

An  Easter  entertainment  for  children  from  five  to  ten 
years  of  age.  27  or  more  characters.  Time :  30  minutes. 
Published  by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 
Price,  15  cents. 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  101 


General,  Community 

America,  Yesterday  and  To-day.  By  Nina  B.  Lamkin. 

“This  is  one  of  Nina  B.  Lamkiids  most  successful 
pageants,  having  been  produced  500  times  by  schools,  col¬ 
leges,  clubs  and  communities.  It  is  historical  and  patriotic 
in  character  and  can  be  produced  by  casts  varying  from 
80  to  500  people;  time  required  one  and  one-half  hours. 
However,  can  be  used  in  separate  episodes  as :  I — Spirit  of 
Indian  Hays;  II — Spirit  of  the  Wilderness;  III — Spirit  of 
Patriotism.  Contains  field  business,  Indian  dances,  folk 
dances  and  symbolic  dances.  Music  and  costumes  fully 
described  and  easily  carried  out.  Adaptable  anywhere  as  a 
community  production.  Episode  II  is  so  constructed  as  to 
make  the  town  and  state  in  which  it  is  given  especially 
prominent  and  in  the  “Town  Interest”  scene  your  local 
history  can  be  inserted.  Special  places  for  Camp  Fire 
Girls,  Boy  Scouts,  G.  A.  E.,  soldiers  of  to-day,  clubs, 
churches,  schools,  etc.  Eight  original  photograpliic  half¬ 
tones  of  various  scenes  and  dances.”  Price,  postpaid,  $1. 

“Community  Celebrations.”  By  Alfred  Arvold. 

This  book  is  especially  designed  for  rural  communities, 
and  gives  a  wide  variety  of  entertainment.  Suitable  for 
different  holidays,  seasons  of  the  year,  etc.  Apply  to  the 
author,  University  of  North  Dakota,  Fargo,  N.  D. 

The  Crossroads  Meetin  House.  Listed  under  General 
Eeligious. 

“Dances,  Drills  and  Story-Plays.” 

Directors  of  community  pageants  frequently  find  folk 
dances  very  helpful  in  making  their  presentations.  This 
book  is  published  by  the  T.  S.  Denison  Company,  623 
Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago.  From  the  publisher: 

“Fourteen  folk  dances  of  various  countries,  suitable  for 
schools,  clubs,  churches,  settlements,  etc.  Twenty-six  sim¬ 
ple  aesthetic  dances  such  as  dances  of  the  seasons,  flowers, 
brownies,  fairies,  bluebirds,  etc.  Twenty-four  drills  for 


102 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 


every  clay  and  holiday;  unusual,  artistic  and  worth  while. 
Forty-one  Rhythms  and  Story-Plays  to  be  used  with 
primary  ages  in  every-day  recreation,  in  dramatizations 
and  other  entertainments.  There  is  something  in  this  book 
to  fit  any  occasion  where  such  material  is  desired.  For 
Boy  Scouts,  Camp  Fire  Girls,  gymnasium  work,  play  festi¬ 
vals,  field  clays,  etc.  Music  suggested  and  everything,  in¬ 
cluding  costumes,  fully  described.  Eight  original  photo¬ 
graphic  half-tones  of  various  dances.”  Price,  postpaid, 
$1.25. 

The  Enchanted  Garden.  By  C.  D.  MacKay. 

Adapted  for  May  Day  celebration,  or  may  be  given  as  a 
graduation  play.  Most  of  the  characters  are  flow'ers. 
Among  them  are  also  the  bee,  the  butterfly  and  will-of-the- 
wisp.  10  characters,  boys  and  girls.  Any  number  of 
children  may  be  introduced  as  attendants.  Plays  about  45 
minutes.  Published  by  Samuel  French,  New  York.  Price, 
30  cents. 

“Folk  Festivals,  Their  Growth  and  How  to  Give  Them.” 
By  Mary  Master  Needham. 

“Mrs.  Needham  has  done  much  here  to  increase  the 
already  widespread  interest,  and  to  incite  others  to  organize 
the  playtime  of  children  and  adults  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  the  festival  popular  and  charming.  Several  varieties 
of  the  festival,  such  as  the  historical  pageant,  the  May  day 
festival,  the  old-time  and  the  modern  pantomime,  the 
ancient  festivals  of  foreign  cities,  and  the  Hallowe’en  and 
Thanksgiving  festivals,  are  described,  while  many  practical 
suggestions  for  the  use  of  schools  and  societies  are  in¬ 
cluded.” 

Published  by  B.  W.  Huebsch,  225  Fifth  Avenue,  New 
York.  Price,  $1.50. 

The  Lamp.  Listed  under  General  Religious. 

“Producing  Amateur  Entertainment.”  By  Helen  Ferris. 

A  book  full  of  suggestions  for  entertainments  of  all 
kinds.  This  will  be  a  very  useful  volume  to  those  who  are 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  103 

interested  in  working  up  community  entertainments  of 
almost  any  description.  Published  by  E.  P.  Dutton  and 
Company,  New  York.  Price,  $2. 

Sanctuary :  A  Bird  Masque.  By  Percy  MacKaye. 

“This  poetic  masque  is  a  plea  for  the  conservation  of  wild 
birds;  an  issue  of  national  and  international  importance. 
The  masque  was  first  presented  before  President  and  Mrs. 
Wilson  on  the  out-door  stage  of  the  bird  sanctuary  at 
Meriden,  near  Cornish,  New  Hampshire,  and  was  enacted 
there  by  a  distinguished  cast,  among  whom  were  Miss 
Eleanor  and  Miss  Margaret  Wilson,  Ernest  Harold  Baynes, 
Witter  Bynner,  Percy  MacKaye  and  Joseph  Lindon 
Smith.” 

Published  by  Frederick  A.  Stokes  Company,  443  Fourth 
Avenue,  New  York.  Price,  $1. 

General,  Religious 

Advance  the  Line.  By  Marie  E.  J.  Hobart. 

Written  for  the  nation-wide  campaign  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  and  awarded  a  prize  in  the  Pageant  Contest  by  the 
Commission  on  Church  Pageantry.  7  characters  and  a 
choir.  Published  by  Commission  on  Church  Pageantry  and 
Drama,  289  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York. 

The  Adze-Head.  By  the  Rev.  John  S.  Littell,  D.D. 

A  little  play  centering  around  the  life  of  St.  Patrick. 
About  10  characters,  including  men,  women,  boys  and  girls. 
Can  be  given  very  effectively  out-of-doors.  Playing  time : 
about  30  minutes.  Published  by  Church  Missions  Publish¬ 
ing  Company,  45  Church  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  15 
cents. 

The  Burden  Bearer — A  Mystery  Play  of  the  Christian 
Tear.  By  the  Rev.  Arthur  Chase. 

The  Burden  Bearer  requires  no  stage  setting  beyond  a 
screen  or  two,  and  the  Christmas  greens,  and  can  be  fit¬ 
tingly  given  in  church,  as  the  words  spoken  follow  closely 
those  of  the  Bible  or  of  the  Prayer-Book  service  for  the 


104  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

seasons,  introduced  in  their  order  by  the  singing  of  a  verse 
of  some  familiar  hymn. 

“The  attendants  are  the  children  of  the  Sunday-school 
and  the  Parish  choir ;  but  the  spoken  parts  are  limited  to 
the  14  children  in  costume.” 

Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company,  211 
State  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  20  cents. 

The  Canvassers  and  Mr.  Brown. 

A  one-act  play. 

From  the  Foreword:  “The  Pev.  Dr.  George  H.  Mack, 
the  superintendent  of  Presbyterian  wTork  in  Tennessee,  and 
1  were  conducting  a  laymen’s  meeting  in  Nashville  in  Jan¬ 
uary,  1916.  The  subject  to  be  discussed  one  morning  was 
the  every  member  canvass.  Dr.  Mack  suggested  that, 
instead  of  talking  about  the  canvass,  we  act  it  out. 

“So  we  prepared  this  ‘one-act  play/  The  laymen  en¬ 
couraged  us  to  use  it  still  further,  which  we  have  done. 
Dr.  Mack  made  use  of  it  in  a  series  of  institutes  in  every 
presbytery  in  his  synod.  We  are  glad  to  pass  it  on  to  others 
for  improvement,  for  adaption  to  local  needs,  and,  princi¬ 
pally,  to  aid  in  the  great  work  of  the  church.” 

Published  by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

The  Church  Victorious  Through  Love.  By  Alice  H.  Clark 
and  Bockwell  S.  Brank. 

A  Masque  adapted  for  Church  service.  12  characters, 
The  Church,  An  Angel,  Love,  Faith,  Knowledge,  War, 
Music,  Opportunity,  Wealth,  Self-Sacrifice,  Famine,  Death. 
Chorus  of  women  and  girls  from  many  lands.  Playing 
time:  about  one  hour.  Published  by  Woman’s  Board  of 
Home  Missions  (Presbyterian),  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New 
York. 

The  City  Beautiful. 

This  pageant  was  given  at  the  Centenary  Celebration  in 
Columbus.  It  requires  careful  preparation,  but  is  very 
effective.  From  the  Introduction: 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  105 

“The  City  Beautiful  is  a  Pageant  of  the  historical  type, 
having  for  its  central  idea,  ‘The  Redeemed  City/  The 
first  two  scenes  are  biblical.  One  by  the  realistic  interpre¬ 
tation  of  Hebrew  dramatic  literature  depicts  the  triumphal 
entry  of  David  into  Jerusalem.  The  other  visualizes  to  the 
audience  Christ's  entrance  on  Palm  Sunday.  The  third 
scene  deals  with  the  heroic  attempts  of  the  Crusaders  to 
wrest  the  Holy  City  from  the  hands  of  the  Infidel.  The 
fourth  shows  the  Forces  of  Evil  at  work  among  the  children 
of  the  modern  city.  The  fifth  reveals  the  power  of 
Christianity  to  overcome  these  Forces  of  Evil — Cruelty, 
Ignorance  and  Crime.  The  last  looks  forward  to  the  ideal, 
the  New  Jerusalem,  where  the  streets  shall  be  full  of  happy 
children,  and  where  Justice,  Righteousness  and  Love  shall 
prevail.” 

Published  by  the  Abingdon  Press,  New  York. 

The  Coming  of  the  Truth.  By  Helen  Patten  Hanson. 

This  service  provides  the  means  of  arousing  your  school 
and  congregation  to  a  larger  pride  and  responsibility  in 
the  great  work  of  Christian  teaching.  Among  the  charac¬ 
ters  are  World,  War,  Law,  Science,  Industry,  Education, 
Church  of  Christ  with  a  group  of  primary  children,  Boy 
Scouts,  Camp  Fire  Girls,  etc.  Prepared  by  the  Board  of 
Sunday  Schools.  Published  by  the  Methodist  Book  Con¬ 
cern,  New  York. 


The  Conquerors  of  the  Continent.  By  Alice  Gwendoline 
Alhee. 

Twelve  characters  and  a  choir.  The  play  is  divided  as 
follows : 

Prologue. 

1.  The  Founding  of  the  Church  in  America. 

2.  The  Church’s  First  Missions. 

3.  The  Church’s  Work  Continued  in  the  West. 

4.  The  Church  in  the  Far  West. 

5.  The  Church  in  Alaska. 

Epilogue. 


10(3 


A  Guide  io  Religious  Pageantry 

Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company,  211 
State  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  10  cents. 

The  Crossroads  Meetin  House.  By  Mary  Meek  Atkeson. 

This  production  will  be  very  helpful  in  rural  communi¬ 
ties.  Among  the  characters  in  the  play  are  Barnhart, 
Champion  cattle  raiser  of  his  country — and  knows  it;  Jim 
Randall,  an  up-to-date  farmer  and  dairyman ;  Squire  Mor¬ 
gan,  an  old-fashioned,  dignified  gentleman  of  the  old 
school;  Hoskins,  a  good-natured  but  worthless  farmer, 
afflicted  with  laziness;  John  Ryan,  an  Agricultural  College 
preacher,  etc.  Published  by  The  Interchurch  World  Move¬ 
ment  of  North  America,  New  York. 

Dianah,  Queen  of  the  Berbers.  By  Clarice  Vallette 
McCauley. 

A  religious  drama  in  3  acts.  11  characters,  besides 
soldiers  and  others.  This  Drama  was  first  presented  at  the 
Centenary  Celebration  at  Columbus  in  1919.  The  play  is 
historically  accurate  and  depicts  the  fall  of  Christianity  in 
northern  Africa  in  the  seventh  century,  when  overrun  by 
the  Mohammedans.  Playing  time :  about  one  and  one-half 
hours.  Published  by  the  Abingdon  Press,  New  York. 
Price,  50  cents. 

Everywhere.  By  May  Lennard. 

A  mystery  play  in  four  scenes  as  follows :  Scene  I,  A 
Room  in  the  Seekers’  Castle ;  Scene  II,  Motherheart’s 
Attic;  Scene  III,  Faithful’s  Studio;  Scene  IY,  The  Vil¬ 
lage  Green,  Marsham ;  Epilogue,  spoken  by  the  Angel. 
Published  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York.  Price, 
35  cents. 

Florence  Nightingale.  By  Edith  Gittings  Reid. 

A  play  in  three  acts.  “A  play  that  portrays  vividly  the 
career  and  character  of  Florence  Nightingale,  showing  her 
in  her  English  home,  then  laboring  among  the  frightful 
conditions  in  a  Crimean  hospital,  and  among  the  soldiers  at 
the  front — growing  worn  and  ill  in  their  service — and 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  107 

again  in  London  working  for  legislation  to  provide  in  the 
future  for  the  care  of  the  wounded.” 

Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke  wrote  after  reading  the  play :  “It 
is  fine — a  splendid  idea  well  worked  out — a  bit  of  mystic 
realism.  It  has  the  elements  of  a  great  success.”  Pub¬ 
lished  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  Hew  York.  Price, 
$1.25. 

Garments  of  Praise.  By  Florence  Converse. 

A  Miracle  Cycle  containing  four  beautifully  arranged 
dramas : 

The  Blessed  Birthday — A  Christmas  Miracle  Play. 

Thy  Kingdom  Come — A  Dream  for  Easter  Even. 

Soul's  Medicine — A  Whitsuntide  Miracle  of  Healing. 
Santa  Conversazione — An  All  Saints  Miracle. 

“Simple  plays,  in  which  romance,  dramatic  situation 
and  reverence  for  spiritual  values  are  delicately  blended. 
Suitable  for  acting  by  either  children  or  grown-ups,  but 
also  exquisite  enough  in  language  to  make  beautiful  read¬ 
ing.”  Published  by  E.  P.  Dutton  and  Company,  681 
Fifth  Avenue,  Hew  York.  Price,  $2. 

The  Gate  of  Vision.  By  M.  Creagh-Henry. 

A  modern  mystical  play.  Characters,  Anarchist,  Profiteer, 
Miser,  Painter,  Light  Woman,  Dancer,  Soldier,  Rich  Man, 
Shepherd,  Artist,  etc.  This  play  was  first  produced  at 
Church  House,  Westminster,  March  21st,  1922.  Published 
by  The  Macmillan  Company,  Hew  York.  Price,  30  cents. 

The  Gift.  By  Marie  Foley. 

This  is  a  symbolic  play  in  1  act.  It  is  published  by 
Samuel  French,  Hew  York,  and  sells  for  35  cents.  The 
publisher  makes  the  following  comment: 

“The  action  passes  in  a  simple  room  of  a  little  house 
near  Judea  during  the  lifetime  of  Our  Lord.  The  charac¬ 
ters  are  two  men,  one  woman  and  three  children.  The 
costumes — tunic  draperies — make  it  easily  possible  to  be 
played  by  an  all  female  cast.” 


108 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

The  Gift  of  Self.  By  Phillips  E.  Osgood. 

An  allegory  written  especially  for  boys  and  girls.  The 
spirit  of  giving  one’s  self  is  brought  out  effectively  in  this 
play,  and  it  carries  with  it  the  wholesome  sentiments  of 
Christian  Service.  Well  adapted  for  use  in  Churches  and 
Sunday  Schools  or  young  people’s  societies.  Plays  about 
45  minutes,  and  has  16  characters  and  a  choir.  Published 
by  Educational  Division,  281  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York. 

Help  Wanted  for  Miss  Liberty.  By  Naomi  Fletcher. 

A  Christian  Americanization  play  for  boys  and  girls. 
Playing  time :  about  30  minutes.  5  scenes.  Characters : 
7  older  girls,  5  younger  girls.  This  play  may  be  given  in 
pageant  form,  and  in  this  case  20  to  40  “immigrants”  will 
be  necessary,  dressed  in  all  kinds  of  costumes. 

The  Idle  and  the  Ideal  Associate — A  G.  F.  S.  Morality 
Play.  By  Elizabeth  Goodspeed. 

“The  title  explains  the  object  of  the  play,  to  entertain 
and  at  the  same  time  instruct  a  group  of  associates. 

“The  6  characters  bear  the  names,  respectively,  of  Miss 
Patience  Worthy,  Miss  Idle  Weaks,  Miss  Idealla  Strong, 
Hope  Needem,  Minnie  Young  and  Mrs.  Earnest  Work¬ 
man.” 

Scene — Room  in  a  Parish  House. 

“The  whole,  which  can  be  acted  in  half  an  hour,  is  in 
two  acts."  Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing 
Company,  211  State  Street,  Hartford. 

Joseph  and  His  Brothers.  By  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner. 

An  Old  Testament  Passion  Play  in  four  acts.  A  vivid 
presentation  of  this  ever  interesting  story.  Effectively 
illustrated  with  helpful  notes  for  costuming,  staging,  etc. 
About  30  characters.  Published  by  The  Macmillan  Com¬ 
pany,  New  York.  Price,  60  cents. 

Judas  Iscariot.  By  Charlotte  Gleason. 

A  biblical  drama  arranged  in  a  prologue  and  3  acts. 

A  play  of  unusual  dramatic  power  and  literary  beauty. 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  109 

Published  by  George  H.  Doran  and  Company,  New  York. 
Price,  50  cents. 

The  Lamp.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

A  pageant  of  religious  education,  written  in  3  parts. 
This  service  is  one  of  the  more  elaborate  types  but  is  well 
written  and  requires  careful  preparation. 

“The  Lamp  is  a  pageant  of  religious  education,  the 
theme  of  which  is  the  aim  of  the  church  school  of  to-day, 
namely,  to  develop  Christian  citizenship. 

“The  pageant  is  designed  for  community  use,  that  is,  all 
the  church  schools  of  a  town,  city,  or  district  may  unite  in 
its  production.  Or,  the  pageant  may  be  given  by  a  single 
large  church  school  or  readily  adapted  for  the  use  of  a 
small  school.  Again,  episodes  from  the  pageant  may  be 
found  practicable  for  an  opening  program  of  the  church 
school  on  Sunday  or  for  a  missionary  meeting;  or  one  of 
the  biblical  episodes,  for  instance,  may  be  developed  as  a 
project  by  a  single  Sunday-School  class.” 

The  Land  of  the  Golden  Man.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

“A  simple  little  program  made  up  of  tableaux  and  small 
dramatic  scenes  based  upon  the  different  chapters  of  the 
book,  ‘The  Land  of  the  Golden  Man/  in  which  anywhere 
from  8  to  30  or  40  pupils  may  be  used.  Only  two  or  three 
rehearsals  would  be  necessary,  and  very  inexpensive  cos¬ 
tuming  is  needed.  It  can  be  used  as  the  program  for  an 
informal  social  at  the  end  of  the  course.  It  is  about  an 
hour  in  length,  and  is  really  a  series  of  living  pictures  to 
accompany  the  narrative.” 

Published  by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New 
York. 

The  Mission  of  the  Church.  By  William  Chauncy 
Langdon. 

Shows  the  Missionary  work  of  the  Church  and  the  needs 
of  humanity. 

“The  speaking  and  reading  are  confined  to  only  three 


110 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Rageantry 

persons,  the  three  Voices  that  represent  three  elements  or 
aspects  of  religious  life, — the  Voice  of  Divine  Mediation, 
the  Word  of  God,  and  the  Appeal  of  the  Human  Spirit. 
The  parts  of  the  attendant  Angels  can  and  should  be 
omitted  in  smaller  churches.  The  parts  of  the  Mission¬ 
aries  and  those  to  whom  Missionaries  are  sent  may  be 
enacted,  as  has  been  said,  by  smaller  or  by  larger  num¬ 
bers.” 

Published  by  the  Presiding  Bishop  and  Council,  Prot¬ 
estant  Episcopal  Church,  281  Fourth  Avenue,  Hew  York. 

The  Mystery  of  Epiphany.  By  B.  C.  Boulter. 

Contains  hymns,  carols  and  other  music.  An  interest¬ 
ing  English  religious  play.  11  scenes:  Nazareth,  The 
Annunciation;  City  of  Judah,  Birth  of  John  the  Baptist; 
Hillside  near  Bethlehem,  The  Shepherds;  Bethlehem,  The 
Nativity;  Bethlehem,  The  Kings;  The  Temple,  Candlemas; 
Herod’s  Palace,  The  Massacre  of  the  Innocents;  The 
Desert,  Flight  into  Egypt;  The  Temple,  Disputation  with 
Doctors;  Nazareth,  Carpenters  Shop;  Bethabara,  The 
Baptism.  About  45  characters.  Published  by  The  Mac¬ 
millan  Company,  New  York.  Price,  $1. 

The  Only  Way  Out  of  the  Dark.  By  Charles  A.  McAlpine. 
An  exercise  for  Universal  Bible  Sunday. 

This  brief  service  is  published  by  the  American  Bible 
Society,  New  York,  and  is  designed  for  use  at  the  Sunday 
morning  service,  or  as  a  Sunday-School  exercise.  This  will 
find  also  a  useful  place  in  young  people’s  societies.  Magni¬ 
fies  the  place  of  the  Bible  in  the  world,  and  presents 
many  facts  concerning  the  wide  distribution  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures. 

Our  Father.  By  F.  Poena  Med  ini. 

The  scene  is  laid  in  an  Army  Outpost,  Red  Cross 
Hospital  Hut.  Characters:  an  American  nurse,  an  Ar¬ 
menian  Poet  converted  to  the  Christian  faith,  a  physician 
and  orderly.  Published  by  the  Abingdon  Press,  New 
York. 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  111 
A  Pageant  of  Pilgrims.  Listed  under  Thanksgiving. 

The  Pageant  of  Brotherhood .  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

From  the  Introduction : 

“This  is  a  simple  pageant  of  an  hour  or  an  hour  and  a 
quarter  in  length,  utilizing  largely  school  and  playground 
work  to  illustrate  the  contribution  of  all  peoples  in  our 
modern  civilization. 

“The  pageant  is  suitable  for  Sunday  School,  vacation 
school,  or  settlement  use.  If  given  by  a  Sunday  School,  all 
departments  from  the  senior  to  the  primary  may  have  their 
share. 

“The  spoken  parts  are  very  short.  The  simple  folk  and 
nature  dances  used  are  taught  in  the  public  school  and  on 
the  playground.  They  bear  no  kinship  to  the  modern  social 
dancing,  and  should  not  be  classed  as  such. 

“To  give  the  pageant  in  complete  form  115  participants 
are  required,  although  the  number  easily  may  be  increased 
or  diminished.  Simplifications  or  alternatives  are  sug¬ 
gested  throughout  the  pageant.” 

Published  by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 
Price,  35  cents. 

A  Pageant  of  the  Church.  By  Eleanor  B.  Forman  and 
Mabel  Eleanor  Stone. 

“The  following  pageant  is  an  unpretentious  attempt  to 
meet  the  needs  among  girls  of  high  school  and  college  age 
for  a  method  of  presenting  church  history  that  will  catch 
the  imagination  and  awaken  the  desire  to  share  in  the 
corporate  life  of  the  Church.  The  interludes  represent  in 
each  case  that  phase  of  the  modern  Church  which  has 
grown  out  of  the  historical  incidents  depicted  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  episode.  It  is  possible  to  leave  out  the  interludes, 
combining  the  prologue,  episodes  and  epilogue  into  one 
unit.  The  pageant  has  been  given  in  the  simplest  way, 
with  almost  no  scenery,  and  with  costumes  of  the  most 
inexpensive  materials.” 

Published  by  the  National  Board  of  the  Young  Women’s 


112  /I  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

Christian  Association,  600  Lexington  Avenue,  New 
York. 

The  Passing  of  the  Kings.  By  Nina  B.  Lamkin. 

"A  pageant  in  8  episodes,  5  symbolic  interludes.  Cast : 
100  to  1,000.  Time:  2  hours.  This  is  a  magnificent  spec¬ 
tacle  visualizing  pictorially  events  in  history  which  by 
their  influence  have  changed  the  spirit  of  religious  and 
political  freedom.  The  period  covered  is  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  Christian  era  to  the  present  time.  Treatment 
is  by  beautiful  colors,  costumes,  groupings  and  dance 
dramas,  yet  withal  is  highly  reverent  and  symbolical. 
Prologues  are  from  the  Prophecies.  Dance  dramas  express 
the  changing  thought  of  the  people.  The  pictures  are 
very  impressive  with  small  casts  but  improve  in  effective¬ 
ness  in  proportion  to  the  number  employed.  Some  events 
covered  are :  The  Battle  of  Marathon,  Roman  Pilgrimage 
to  Constantinople,  St.  Augustine  in  Britain,  Mohamme¬ 
dans  in  Jerusalem,  Spanish  Armada,  America’s  Freedom, 
with  interludes  expressing  Hope,  New  Light,  Triumph, 
Tyranny,  Freedom  and  Victory P 

Published  by  T.  S.  Denison  &  Company,  623  Wabash 
Avenue,  Chicago.  Price,  postpaid,  $2. 

Passover-Night.  By  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner. 

A  Bible  mystery  play  in  3  scenes,  12  characters,  play¬ 
ing  time  about  1  hour.  The  familiar  Old  Testament  story 
of  one  incident  in  the  life  of  the  children  of  Israel  while  in 
the  land  of  bondage.  Published  by  The  Macmillan 
Company,  New  York.  Price,  20  cents. 

The  Pilgrim  and  the  Booh.  By  Percy  MacKaye. 

A  dramatic  service  of  the  Bible  designed  to  be  used  in 
churches.  Published  by  the  American  Bible  Society,  New 
York.  The  theme  of  the  Service  is  the  power  of  truth,  as 
revealed  in  the  Bible,  to  set  free  the  human  soul,  in 
particular  from  the  shackles  of  Persecution  and  the  Fear 
of  Death.  Playing  time:  about  one  and  one-half  hours. 
This  drama  is  well  written  and  any  church  grout)  will  be 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  113 

highly  repaid  for  the  careful  preparation  that  is  necessary 
for  its  production. 

The  Quest .  By  Helen  Beatrice  Allan. 

A  mystery  play  in  which  is  a  pageant  of  early  saints  of 
the  British  Church.  “It  is  not  only  a  play  but  a  reference 
book  of  information  about  the  early  saints.”  Published  by 
The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York.  Price,  60  cents. 

The  Bing  of  Bama  Iirishniah.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

A  Pageant-Play  of  Christian  Stewardship  divided  as 
follows : 

Prologue — The  Ring  Received. 

Picture  I — The  Old  Church. 

Picture  II — The  New  Church. 

Epilogue — The  Ring  Redeemed. 

Characters :  men  9,  women  8,  children  4.  Published  by 
the  Abingdon  Press,  New  York. 

The  Bock.  By  Mary  P.  Hamlin. 

A  play  showing  the  character  development  of  Simon 
Peter.  Written  in  3  acts. 

“ The  Bock  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  prize  plays  in  the 
Religious  Drama  Contest  of  the  Drama  League  of  America 
by  the  judges,  Dr.  Richard  Burton,  Stuart  Walker,  and 
Walter  Prichard  Eaton.  The  first  public  performance  of 
The  Bock  was  given  by  the  Pilgrim  Players  of  Evanston, 
Ill.,  for  the  eleventh  convention  of  the  League.  The  sug¬ 
gestions  for  costumes  and  scenery  were  made  by  committees 
having  these  matters  in  charge  for  the  first  production.” 
Published  by  the  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston. 

Saul  and  Stephen.  By  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner. 

A  sacred  drama  in  three  acts.  The  author  says  in  the 
preface,  “The  only  liberty  taken  with  the  New  Testament 
narrative  in  this  dramatization  of  ‘The  Conversion  of  St. 
Paul’  may  be  defended  as  being  ideally  and  dramatically, 
if  not  chronologically  exact.”  20  to  30  characters.  Pub¬ 
lished  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York.  Price,  40 
cents. 


114 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

The  Search  for  the  Light.  By  Laura  Scherer  Copenhaver 
and  Katherine  Scherer  Cronk. 

A  pageant  of  man’s  quest  for  God.  Time  required  for 
production  about  one  hour.  Cast:  117  to  277  persons. 

•  “Theme  and  Purpose:  The  theme  of  the  pageant  is: 
Man’s  Quest  for  God.  The  purpose  is : 

“To  show  the  inadequacy  of  the  non-Christian  religion, 
to  exalt  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  hope  and  light  of  the 
world,  and  to  emphasize  the  responsibility  of  the  Church 
of  the  Living  God  in  fulfilling  its  commission  to  carry  the 
message  of  light  and  salvation  to  every  creature.” 

Published  by  Literature  Headquarters,  W.  M.  S. 
(Lutheran),  844  Drexel  Building,  Philadelphia.  Price, 
25  cents. 

The  Seeker.  By  Clarice  Vallette  McCauley. 

This  is  an  elaborate  pageant.  It  was  produced  orig¬ 
inally  at  the  Centenary  Exposition,  Columbus,  Ohio,  in 
1919,  by  a  group  of  students  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  Uni¬ 
versity.  This  is  a  very  complete  production,  carrying  with 
it  all  necessary  music  and  instructions  for  its  direction. 
There  is  a  minimum  of  75  characters  with  12  conspicuous 
parts.  This  pageant  will  require  careful  preparation,  but 
is  well  worth  the  time  necessary  to  make  it  a  success.  Its 
leading  theme  shows  by  comparison  how  Christianity  satis¬ 
fies  the  hunger  of  the  human  heart  in  a  way  that  other 
religions  are  incapable  of  doing.  Published  by  the  Abing¬ 
don  Press,  New  York  City.  The  author  of  this  pageant 
gives  very  specific  directions  in  a  little  pamphlet,  “How  to 
Produce  The  Seeker Those  who  are  producing  this  play 
would  do  well  to  secure  this  book  of  directions  from  the 
publisher. 

The  Stable  Door.  By  Sidney  Bridgeman. 

A  mystery  play  of  3  scenes  and  4  tableaux.  Published 
by  The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York.  Price,  60  cents. 

The  Standard  Bearers.  By  Margaret  Cropper. 

Characters :  an  old  man,  3  young  men,  2  young  women 
and  others.  Time :  30  minutes.  A  mystery  play  in  which 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  115 

the  standard  bearer  falls  by  the  roadside,  unable  to  carry 
on.  Such  personages  as  Ease,  Common  Sense,  Ridicule 
and  others  pass  by  unwilling  to  take  up  the  standard. 
Finally  Ardor  and  Desire  come  along  and  carry  the  ban¬ 
ner  onward.  A  beautiful  and  inspiring  allegory.  Pub¬ 
lished  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York. 

Starting  Fight. 

A  Dialogue  on  Stewardship. 

“This  simple  dialogue  on  stewardship  is  not  intended 
primarily  to  give  entertainment.  It  presents  in  dramatic 
form,  through  the  situation  confronting  a  newly-married 
couple  as  they  plan  the  use  of  their  income,  the  Christian 
ideals  regarding  the  attitude  toward  property.  Its  purpose 
is  to  instruct  those  who  witness  it  concerning  the  principles 
of  stewardship  and  to  arouse  determination  to  put  these 
principles  into  practice  in  daily  life.” 

Published  by  the  Interchurch  World  Movement  of  North 
America,  45  West  18th  Street,  New  York. 

The  Striking  of  America’s  Hour. 

This  is  a  pageant  of  Christian  liberty  and  has  been 
presented  at  Summer  Conferences  before  being  printed. 
The  cast  consists  of  about  50  people,  though  it  may  be 
enlarged  to  150  or  more.  The  greater  part  of  the  music 
called  for  in  this  pageant  is  found  in  most  church  hymnals. 
It  is  published  by  Literature  Headquarters,  844  Drexel 
Building,  Philadelphia.  Price,  20  cents. 

Three  Plays  for  Boys.  Listed  under  Boys  and  Girls. 

The  Triumph  of  Peace.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

An  entertainment  for  young  people. 

“Participants :  This  entertainment  requires  35  partici¬ 
pants.  Younger  participants  may  be  used  if  desired,  and 
the  play  may  be  given  by  Intermediates  and  young  people, 
that  is,  pupils  between  the  ages  of  eleven  and  seventeen. 
Humanity,  Truth,  Justice,  Peace,  War,  Valor,  Glory,  and 
Patriotism  would  naturally  be  represented  by  the  oldest 
pupils.” 


116 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

Published  by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New 
York.  Price,  15  cents. 

Who  Is  My  Neighbor  f  By  Mary  Clark  Barnes. 

Four  principal  characters  with  chorus  of  men  and 
women  (or  boys  and  girls).  Published  by  the  Missionary 
Education  Movement  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

Foreign  Missions 
The  Call  and  the  Ansiver. 

A  pageant  given  at  the  Golden  Jubilee  of  the  Woman’s 
American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society.  An  effective 
presentation  of  the  great  mission  cause.  Published  by  the 
General  Board  of  Promotion  (Baptist),  276  Fifth  Avenue, 
New  York. 

A  Choice  of  Evils.  By  Buth  E.  Jacobs. 

A  dramatization  of  “Chin  Hsing,”  or  the  “Forward 
March  of  China.” 

“A  little  Chinese  boy  journeys  to  the  hospital  in  Wu¬ 
chang  to  borrow  a  coffin  for  his  grandmother,  and  becomes 
interested  in  Christianity  through  the  kindness  he  receives 
from  the  ‘foreign  devils,’  who,  contrary  to  the  report  of  his 
neighbors,  do  him  and  his  household  no  harm.” 

There  is  humor  in  the  scenes  and  good  teaching. 

The  speaking  parts  are  16,  but  many  attendants  can  be 
introduced,  mission  school  children,  coolies,  etc.  Published 
by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company,  211  State  Street, 
Hartford.  Price,  10  cents. 

The  Doors  of  Nippon — The  Awakening  of  Japan.  By  A. 

G.  Albee. 

An  allegorical  play,  personifies  the  “World,”  “The 
Church”  and  “The  Nations,”  etc.  One  Japanese  girl  is 
introduced.  21  speaking  parts  and  some  attendants.  Cos¬ 
tumes,  given  in  the  illustrations,  are  easily  made.  All 
necessary  stage  setting  can  be  made  by  screens  and  a  large 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  117 

armchair.  Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Com¬ 
pany,  211  State  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  10  cents. 

Dramatic  Sketches  of  Mission  Fields.  By  Helen  L.  Will- 
cox. 

This  is  a  dramatic  arrangement  for  missionary  “Exposi¬ 
tions.”  It  is  given  in  twelve  episodes  as  follows : 


Introduction 

The  Auspicious  Day . China 

The  Feast  Day . Burma 

In  Congo  Land . Africa 

Prince  and  Peasant . Russia 

The  Peasant’s  Choice . Russia 

The  Cross  in  the  Sky . v  Italy 

The  Home-coming . France 

Brothers . France 

The  Need  of  Central  America  .  .  .  .  Central  America 

The  Hut  in  the  Great  North  Woods  .  .  United  States 

School-Days  in  Oklahoma . United  States 

In  Washington  Square . United  States 


Published  by  Department  of  Missionary  Education 
(Baptist),  276  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Price  single 
copy,  15  cents;  complete  set  of  13,  $1.30. 

The  Foreign  Missionary  Dollar  and  What  It  Does. 

This  little  service  may  be  very  helpful  in  showing  where 
our  missionary  dollars  go.  The  presentation  is  made  by 
setting  up  a  large  piece  of  pasteboard  covered  with  silver 
paper,  representing  a  silver  dollar.  The  ten  members  who 
take  part  hold  dimes  made  in  the  same  way,  and  as  each 
dime  speaks,  it  is  hung  on  the  big  dollar.  For  convenience 
in  small  meetings  a  real  dollar,  with  real  dimes,  may  be 
used.  This  will  do  much  to  explain  to  some  folks  what  we 
do  with  missionary  money.  Published  by  Literature 
Headquarters,  W.  M.  S.  (Lutheran),  844  Drexel  Building, 
Philadelphia. 


“Go  Tell  ”  Listed  under  Easter. 


118  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

Hanging  a  Sign.  A  presentation  of  Medical  Missions.  By 
Mrs.  E.  C.  Cronk. 

This  little  play  has  been  presented  at  the  Missionary 
Education  Conference,  Ocean  Park,  Maine.  “One-Half  of 
the  World  is  without  a  Doctor.”  Published  by  Literature 
Headquarters,  W.  M.  S.  (Lutheran),  844  Drexel  Building, 
Philadelphia. 

The  Heroine  of  Ava.  By  Helen  L.  Willcox. 

“This  play  is  based  upon  historical  incidents.  Adoniram 
and  Ann  Hasseltine  Judson  landed  in  Burma  in  1812. 
To-day  Burma  is  a  part  of  the  British  Empire ;  then  it  was 
an  independent  Oriental  state.  The  capital  city  was  Ava. 
There  the  pioneer  American  missionaries  were  at  the 
mercy  of  native  officials  and  subjected  to  physical  hard¬ 
ships  and  mental  anguish  for  Christ’s  sake  and  the 
gospel’s.” 

Published  by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

The  Honorable  Mrs.  Ling's  Conversion.  By  Jean  H. 
Brown. 

The  story  of  the  conversion  of  a  wealthy  Chinese  family. 
May  be  given  by  boys  and  girls.  Playing  time :  about  one 
and  one-half  hours.  Suggestions  for  costumes,  properties 
and  music  are  given.  Published  by  the  Interchurch  World 
Movement  of  North  America,  45  West  18th  Street,  New 
York. 

The  Hour  of  Waking.  By  Marian  Manley. 

A  Chinese  pageant.  The  first  part  showing  China  sleep¬ 
ing.  The  second  part  shows  the  servants  of  Western  Civi¬ 
lization,  Freedom,  Education,  Invention,  etc.  Awakening 
China  and  Christianity  leading  the  way.  Playing  time: 
about  45  minutes.  Characters :  55  persons.  Published  byr 
the  Abingdon  Press,  New  York.  Price,  25  cents. 

How  the  Light  Came.  By  the  Eev.  F.  D.  Graves. 

A  Missionary  play  based  on  the  old  mystery  order. 
Characters  represented:  Mother  Church,  Africa,  China, 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  119 

American  Indians,  Alaska,  St.  Peter,  St.  John,  St.  James, 
St.  Thomas,  St.  Matthew,  St.  Nathanael,  St.  Andrew,  St. 
Philip,  St.  Simon  Zelotes,  St.  James  the  Little  (may  be 
omitted),  St.  Mark,  Cleopas,  His  Companion.  Our  Blessed 
Lord,  manifested  by  a  light  and  a  voice  in  words  of  Holy 
Scripture.  Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing 
Company,  45  Church  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  30  cents. 

Its  Radiant  Hem.  By  Rev.  Fredc.  D.  Graves. 

“A  young  American  girl  desires  to  devote  her  life  to  the 
work  of  foreign  missions,  and  goes  to  China,  with  the  sym¬ 
pathetic  approval  of  her  father  but  the  reluctant  consent  of 
her  mother,  who,  after  a  time,  follows  her,  intending  that 
they  shall  return  together  to  their  American  home.  After 
witnessing  the  great  work  in  which  her  daughter  has  a  part 
in  the  mission  station,  the  mother  is  converted  to  foreign 
missions  and  gives  her  consent  to  her  daughter  remaining 
in  the  field.” 

Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company,  211 
State  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  20  cents. 

Kosiki,  or  a  Korean  Village.  By  Amy  Kellogg. 

Six  characters  with  about  20  attendants.  Briefly  written 
in  two  parts.  Published  by  the  Interchurch  World  Move¬ 
ment  of  North  America,  45  West  18th  Street,  New  York. 

Larola.  By  Helen  L.  Willcox. 

Editor's  note :  “Most  of  the  action  of  Larola  is  based 
upon  fact.  The  relations  between  Larola  and  the  Professor, 
and  the  suttee  of  the  Professor’s  mother,  as  described  in 
the  play,  are  founded  upon  a  true  series  of  occurrences,  the 
account  of  which  may  be  found  in  Tndia :  Its  Life  and 
Thought/  by  John  P.  Jones  (page  259).  The  story  of 
Lela  and  her  part  in  the  plot  are  fictitious.” 

Published  by  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 
Price,  25  cents. 

The  Lifting  Hands.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

For  presentation  in  complete  form,  requires  34  persons, 


120 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

seven  of  whom  are  children,  also  chorus.  Playing  time: 
about  one  hour.  This  pageant  may  be  given  in  a  Church 
auditorium  or  Sunday  School.  The  following  brief  outline 
is  given  by  the  author : 

“The  Pageant  of  the  Lifting  Hands  represents  in  very 
brief  outline  the  work  of  the  Woman’s  Boards  of  Foreign 
Missions  with  the  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  ‘in  the 
foreign  field,  it  is  our  task  to  found  the  Church  and  then  to 
induce  it  to  assume  those  duties  for  the  further  evangeliza¬ 
tion  of  the  population  that  we  have  assumed  for  our  own 
people.*  The  episode  of  the  pageant  attempts  to  suggest 
by  brief  flashes  of  portrayal  how  nobly  and  often  sublimely 
the  new-born  Christians  of  the  non-Christian  world  have 
grasped  the  Cross  and  are  bearing  it  forward,  shaming  us 
many  times  by  their  pentecostal  zeal. 

“All  five  episodes  are  based  upon  fact  from  missionary 
letters  and  are  historically  true.  The  central  theme  of  the 
first  episode  is  Consecration  of  Life;  the  second,  Evange¬ 
lism;  the  third,  Organization;  the  fourth,  Christianity’s 
Effect  Upon  National  Idealism;  the  fifth,  The  Working 
Demonstration  of  Christianity.” 

Published  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
(Presbyterian),  150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

The  Light  of  the  World.  Listed  under  Christmas. 

“Mission  Study  Through  Educational  Dramatics.”  By 
Helen  L.  Willcox. 

“This  pamphlet  lays  no  claim  to  be  a  treatise  or  manual 
on  Educational  Dramatic  Method.  Any  comprehensive 
treatment  of  that  subject  would  require  much  more  space 
than  is  here  utilized.  The  attempt  has  been  made  to  pre¬ 
pare  a  brief  introduction  to  the  method,  with  special  appli¬ 
cation  to  the  plays  published  by  the  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  which  is  now  a  Department  of  the  Interchurch 
World  Movement.” 

Published  by  the  Interchurch  World  Movement  of  North 
America,  45  West  18th  Street,  New  York.  Price,  25 
cents. 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  121 

Mother  Goose  Village  Missionary  Meeting.  By  Mrs.  G.  A. 
Haven. 

Very  brief,  requiring  only  10  or  15  minutes  for  presen¬ 
tation.  12  characters.  Costumes  very  simple  and  easily 
made.  Setting  not  difficult.  Published  by  the  Woman’s 
Board  of  Home  Missions  (Presbyterian),  156  Fifth  Ave¬ 
nue,  New  York.  Price,  10  cents. 

The  Pill  Bottle.  By  Margaret  T.  Applegarth. 

A  Medical  Missionary  play,  written  in  4  scenes.  Not 
difficult  to  produce.  The  scenes  are :  Sweet  Girl  Grad¬ 
uates,  Three  Knocks  in  the  Night,  Office  Hours,  The  God 
of  the  Pill  Bottle.  Published  by  the  General  Board  of 
Promotion  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention,  276  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York. 

The  Plea  of  the  Pennies.  By  Gretchen  Green. 

(An  appeal  for  Missionary  Offerings.) 

“The  speakers  in  this  play  are  only  9  in  number,  viz.,  a 
girl  who  believes  in  missions  and  in  giving  towards  their 
support,  and  an  unbelieving  boy,  who  becomes  convinced 
by  a  dream  (which  we  see  represented  at  the  back  of  the 
stage)  in  which  the  7  Spirits  of  Missions  (Love,  Faith, 
etc.)  show  him  the  work  done  through  the  ages  by  the 
missionaries.  A  series  of  tableaux  begins  with  the  Coming 
of  the  Wise  Men  with  their  gifts  and  ends  with  the  rep¬ 
resentation  of  one  of  our  own  Indian  Mission  Stations/’ 
Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company, 
211  State  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  15  cents. 

The  Set  of  the  Sadi.  By  Anita  B.  Ferris. 

A  play  of  missions  in  the  Philippines.  Characters :  9 
men,  5  women,  4  boys,  1  girl.  Full  instructions  are  given 
for  all  participants.  Published  by  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  (Presbyterian),  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

Uncle  Sam’s  Congress  of  Methods.  By  Estella  Sutton 
Aitchison. 

A  brief  missionary  service  with  a  message.  Costumes 
and  setting  very  simple. 


122 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

"The  following  dramatic  sketch  has  been  arranged  to 
conserve  the  unique  values  of  the  present  atmosphere,  link¬ 
ing  up  Patriotism  with  Missions  and  turning  our  tidal 
wave  of  high  endeavor  into  the  channel  of  world-salvation. 
Incidentally  it  features  our  current  denominational  mis¬ 
sionary  program  and  stresses  the  best  methods  for  each 
department  of  church  activity  in  the  form  most  readily 
assimilated — the  dramatic.” 

Published  by  the  Woman’s  American  Baptist  Home  Mis¬ 
sion  Society,  2969  Vernon  Avenue,  Chicago.  Price,  10 
cents. 

Waiting  for  the  Doctor .  By  Mrs.  E.  C.  Cronk. 

This  dialogue  is  adapted  to  Junior,  Intermediate  or 
older  girls.  The  subject  is  Medical  Missions.  Published 
by  Literature  Headquarters,  W.  M.  S.  (Lutheran),  844 
Drexel  Building,  Philadelphia.  Price,  5  cents. 

Home  Missions 

The  Blue  Cashmere  Gown.  By  Sarah  S.  Pratt. 

A  plea  for  the  Missionary  barrel. 

“This  is  a  short  play,  representing  a  Western  Missionary 
and  his  wife  and  11  or  more  members  of  an  Eastern 
Woman’s  Auxiliary  Parish  Branch,  in  the  caste. 

“This  play  is  very  easily  staged,  and  costumed,  and  can 
be  acted  with  considerable  humor  and  effective  appeal.” 

Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company,  211 
State  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  20  cents. 

The  Boole  of  Life.  By  Elsie  Douglas. 

“Founded  on  an  historical  incident  in  the  settlement  of 
our  Northwest,  and  the  carrying  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
Indians.  It  calls  for  15  actors  to  take  boys’  or  men’s  parts; 
2  girls’  parts,  and  as  many  as  desired  to  make  up  a  party 
of  attendants  (who  have  no  speaking  to  do).  Scenes  are 
Indian  camp,  and  two  ordinary  rooms  furnished  as  con¬ 
venient.” 

Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company,  211 
State  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  15  cents. 


Descriptive  List  of  Flays  and  Pay  cants  123 

Christ  in  America,  By  Laura  Scherer  Copenhaver  and 
Katherine  Scherer  Cronk. 

A  pageant  of  Home  Mission  opportunity.  People  of 
various  nationalities  in  America  plead  to  Columbia  for 
Christ  in  America,  and  the  Church  answers  the  request. 
The  pageant  may  be  given  very  effectively  out  of  doors. 
Characters :  13  women  or  older  girls.  dSTo  scenery  is  neces¬ 
sary,  but  a  choir  is  essential.  Playing  time :  about  35 
minutes.  Published  by  Literature  Headquarters,  W.  M.  S. 
(Lutheran),  844  Hrexel  Building,  Philadelphia.  Price, 
15  cents. 

Circle  Three  Sees  a  Vision,  By  Belle  B.  Clokey. 

"Setting  of  the  play  can  be  either  a  church  parlor  or  a 
home.  When  the  play  opens  the  women  are  all  present 
except  Mrs.  Curtis  and  Mrs.  Martin  and  are  busy  with  their 
sewing  or  fancy  work  and  all  talking  at  once.  This  effect 
can  easily  be  gained  by  having  them  repeat  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet  in  conversational  tones.”  15  characters,  all 
members  of  Circle  Three. 

Published  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Home  Missions 
(Presbyterian),  156  Fifth  Avenue,  Yew  York. 

Daybreak  in  the  West.  By  Harriet  M.  Morrison. 

The  history  of  the  Church’s  Mission  to  the  Indians  of 
Minnesota.  Scenery — a  Forest,  a  Tepee,  and  a  room  in  the 
Mission’s  House.  "There  are  some  20  speakers  in  this 
play,  Indians,  Frontier-Settlers,  Missionaries,  and  various 
Spirits  and  Sciences  (‘Rapid  Transit/  ‘Telephone/  ‘Sur¬ 
gery'),  ‘Holy  Church/  etc.  Almost  any  number  can  be  used 
as  attendants  on  the  speakers,  and  these  characters  can  be 
changed,  lessened,  or  increased,  without  difficulty,  to  suit 
the  available  material.” 

Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company,  211 
State  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  10  cents. 

From  Darkness  to  Light.  By  Mrs.  Frank  P.  Miller. 

"Theme. — The  boast  of  Womanhood  to  Liberty  of  the 
fairness  and  freedom  of  our  country.  The  Missionary 


124 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 


Spirit  reminds  her  of  the  spots  in  onr  land  which  Liberty’s 
torch  does  not  light.’’ 

Published  by  the  Woman’s  Home  Missionary  Society, 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York, 
Price,  20  cents. 

From  Italy  to  America.  An  Impersonation,  by  Florence 
Lee  Weld. 

This  reading  is  given  in  a  kind  of  anglicized,  Italian 
accent,  and  will  be  found  helpful  in  presenting  our  immi¬ 
grant  problem,  it  is  published  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of 
Home  Missions  (Presbyterian),  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New 
York.  Price,  10  cents. 

The  Great  Message ,  or  Barrie's  Choice.  By  Evangeline 
Chapman  Cozzens. 

A  play  in  4  scenes.  Setting:  the  Alleghany  Mountains 
in  Virginia.  About  14  characters  including  men,  women, 
boys  and  girls  and  school  pupils.  Published  by  Church 
Missions  Publishing  Company,  45  Church  Street,  Hartford. 

The  Light-Briny ers.  By  Alice  M.  Guernsey. 

A  Home  Missions  pageant.  Playing  time :  about  30 
minutes.  Published  by  the  Woman’s  Home  Missionary 
Society,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  150  Fifth  Avenue, 
New  York.  Price,  25  cents. 

The  Light  of  the  World.  Listed  under  Christmas. 

Martha  Washington  and  the  Home  Mission  Children.  By 
Mrs.  E.  W.  Rogers. 

This  little  pamphlet  deals  with  the  Home  Mission  Prob¬ 
lem.  It  may  be  presented  in  10  or  15  minutes.  Suitable 
for  use  in  classes  of  boys  and  girls.  Published  by  Woman’s 
Home  Missionary  Society,  150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 
Price,  5  cents. 


A  Missionary  Clinic.  By  Blanche  Dickens-Lewis. 

A  drama  in  one  act.  This  little  service  tells  a  simple 
missionary  s 


tory.  Published  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  125 

Home  Missions  (Presbyterian),  156  Fifth  Avenue,  Hew 
York. 

New  Brooms  for  Old.  By  Bertha  Reed  Beck. 

Characters:  16  besides  other  children.  Time  required: 
30  minutes. 

“The  members  of  the  village  Home  Mission  Society  meet 
to  discuss  ways  and  means  of  interesting  young  people  in 
church  work.  A  playlet  with  a  laugh  and  a  lesson.” 

Published  by  the  General  Board  of  Promotion  (Baptist), 
276  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

The  Open  Door.  By  Dorothy  Woolverton. 

A  Home  Mission  pageant.  This  little  service  may  be 
given  in  10  or  15  minutes.  19  characters  in  all.  Published 
by  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Home  Missions  (Presbyterian), 
156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Price,  25  cents. 

The  Soul  of  the  City.  By  Bernice  Hall  Legg. 

Four  Symbolic  Characters :  “The  Soul  of  the  City,” 
“America,”  “Queen  Esther,”  and  “The  Church.”  The  theme 
of  this  pageant  is  Americanization,  and  requires  a  group 
of  girls  for  presentation.  Published  by  the  Woman’s  Home 
Missionary  Society,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  150 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Price,  20  cents. 

Two  Thousand  Miles  for  a  Book.  By  Helen  L.  Willcox. 

This  is  a  story  of  the  Nez  Perces  Indians,  who  travel 
from  the  Northwest  to  St.  Louis  seeking  the  white  man’s 
book  of  Heaven.  Playing  time:  about  one  and  one-half 
hours.  30  or  more  persons  in  the  play.  Three  acts.  Pub¬ 
lished  by  Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Price, 
25  cents. 

Unde  Sains  Foundlings.  By  Edna  M.  Cockrell. 

“Designed  to  give  a  General  Impression  of  the  Relation 
of  Home  Missions  to  the  Education  of  the  Exceptional 
Populations.”  Playing  time:  about  30  minutes.  Pub- 


126 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

lished  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Home  Missions  (Presby¬ 
terian),  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Price,  5  cents. 

A  Vision  of  the  Home  Land.  By  Emily  Ingham  Wilcox. 

“Characters. — Christian  America,  a  young  woman  in 
white,  with  the  national  colors  draped  around  her,  seated 
in  a  large  chair  which  is  also  draped  and  slightly  elevated 
at  the  back  center  of  the  platform,  facing  the  audience. 

“The  eight  representatives  and  their  respective  groups 
represent  the  work  carried  on  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of 
Home  Missions.  The  parts  may  be  taken  by  either  men  or 
women,  but  the  following  is  suggested  for  the  representa¬ 
tives:  Alaskan,  woman;  Negro,  man;  Cuban,  Porto  Rican, 
young  boy,  and  Immigrant,  woman.’" 

Published  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Home  Missions 
(Presbyterian),  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Price,  10 
cents. 

Visions  of  World  Freedom.  By  Angie  M.  Goble. 

“Not  for  America  for  x4merica’s  sake,  but  America  for 
the  World’s  sake.” 

“This  pageant  was  written  with  the  thought  of  empha¬ 
sizing  the  two  Study  Books — ‘A  Crusade  of  Compassion’ 
and  ‘ Americanization.’  It  does  more  than  that — the  won¬ 
derful  story  of  missionary  beginnings  with  the  great  out¬ 
look  for  the  future  is  portrayed.  It  was  especially  written 
for  presentation  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Woman’s 
Baptist  Mission  Society  of  Illinois,  held  in  Jersey ville, 
October,  1919.” 

Published  by  Woman’s  Baptist  Mission  Society  of  Illi¬ 
nois.  Copies  of  this  Pageant  may  be  obtained  from  1433 
Stevens  Building,  Chicago.  Price,  10  cents. 

The  Wayside  Piper.  By  Mary  S.  Edgar. 

“Based  upon  the  old  story,  ‘The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin,’ 
but  in  this  dramatic  adaptation  the  music  of  the  Piper 
symbolizes  the  appeal  of  Missions  to  the  hearts  and  minds 
of  girls. 

“Into  the  Piper’s  flute,  Faith  and  Hope  and  Love  have 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  127 

breathed  the  essence  of  themselves  to  produce  a  clear 
spiritual  melody  with  which  the  Piper  goes  forth  into  the 
wayside  places  of  modern  life  to  awaken  a  responsiveness 
and  call  forth  the  latent  music  of  individual  expression 
from  all  kinds  of  girls.” 

Published  by  the  Woman’s  American  Baptist  Home  Mis¬ 
sion  Society,  2969  Vernon  Avenue,  Chicago.  Price,  15 
cents. 

Old  Testament 

Biblical  Dramas.  By  Plarris  G.  Hale  and  Newton  M.  Hall. 

1.  The  Story  of  Joseph  and  His  Brethren. 

2.  The  Story  of  Jacob. 

3.  Moses  the  Liberator. 

4.  Samuel  and  Saul. 

5.  David  the  King. 

6.  The  Story  of  David  and  Jonathan. 

7.  The  Story  of  Solomon. 

8.  The  Story  of  Job. 

9.  The  Story  of  Elijah. 

10.  The  Messages  of  the  Prophets. 

11.  Nehemiah  the  Builder. 

12.  Paul,  the  Prisoner  of  the  Lord. 

Published  by  the  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston. 

The  Children  of  Israel.  A  biblical  drama  in  three  Acts,  by 
Tracy  D.  Mygatt. 

“An  elaborate  Biblical  Drama.  While  extended,  it  is 
easier  to  produce  than  a  pageant  and  it  will  be  found 
admirable  for  dramatic  work  in  church  parish  houses, 
summer  schools  and  conventions.”  All  necessary  instruc¬ 
tions  and  suggestions  for  its  production  are  given  in  a 
Foreword.  No  singing  is  required.  Published  by  George 
H.  Doran  and  Company,  New  York.  Price,  75  cents. 

David,  a  Sacred  Drama. 

“This  play  is  almost  entirely  in  the  words  of  Scripture. 
It  has  22  parts  for  men  or  boys,  and  2  women’s  parts, 


128  A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

besides  attendants  and  dancing  girls.  Scenes  laid  in  Beth¬ 
lehem,  Hebron,  Court  of  Saul,  and  in  the  Syrian  fields/' 

Published  by  Church  Missions  Publishing  Company,  211 
State  Street,  Hartford.  Price,  15  cents. 

The  Drama  of  Esther .  By  the  W Oman's  Press,  New  York. 

Suitable  for  an  all-girl  cast.  There  are  three  acts  with 
20  or  more  characters.  These  lines  in  the  foreword  of  the 
play  give  a  good  idea  of  its  purpose : 

“This  dramatization  of  the  story  of  Esther  was  prepared 
to  demonstrate  the  use  of  the  drama  in  teaching  the  Bible 
to  girls  in  clubs,  Bible  classes  or  similar  groups.  Its  aim 
is  to  make  the  characters  of  the  story  real  and  to  suggest 
the  value  of  using  other  Bible  stories  in  a  similar  way. 
Special  attention  was  given  to  the  Oriental  setting,  since 
so  much  of  the  beauty  and  meaning  of  the  Bible  is  lost 
because  of  a  lack  of  understanding  of  Oriental  life  and. 
customs." 

The  Drama  of  Isaiah.  By  Eleanor  Wood  Whitman. 

This  play  requires  careful  preparation,  but  when  prop¬ 
erly  handled  makes  a  valuable  study  of  Old  Testament 
life.  It  is  published  by  the  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston.  The 
publishers  have  the  following  to  say : 

“An  interpretation  of  the  message  of  the  Prophet 
Isaiah.  Preparation  for  this  drama  will  be  an  interesting 
and  worth  while  task  for  the  participants,  and  should 
include  a  thorough  study  of  the  great  prophet  and  his 
teachings.  It  is  evident  that  the  part  of  Isaiah  the 
Prophet  must  be  taken  by  some  one  with  spiritual  under¬ 
standing  and  power.  This  is  a  drama  which  may  well 
enlist  the  cooperation  of  those  of  all  ages.  The  older  and 
more  experienced  should  take  the  parts  of  prophet,  kings, 
and  councilors,  while  the  younger  may  take  up  the  Jeru¬ 
salem  crowed."  The  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston. 

The  drama  is  written  in  3  acts : 

Act  I.  In  the  Days  of  Uzziah  the  King. 

Jerusalem  Prosperous  and  Full  of  Injustice. 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  120 

Act  II.  In  the  Days  of  King  Aliaz. 

Jerusalem  Attacked  by  Israel  and  Damascus. 
Act  III.  Jji  the  Days  of  King  Hezekiah. 

Jerusalem  Threatened  by  Assyria. 

Jephthalds  Daughter.  A  one-act  biblical  drama  written  by 
Elma  Ehrlich  Levinger. 

There  are  6  female  and  5  male  characters  and  the  pro¬ 
duction  is  written  in  one  act. 

“This  one-act  drama  of  the  time  of  Esther  is  one  of  the 
prize  plays  resulting  from  the  contest  recently  held  by  the 
Drama  League  of  America  in  the  hope  of  securing  much 
needed  material  on  biblical  themes  for  use  in  the  religious 
schools,  it  presents  the  familiar  story  from  a  new  and 
dramatic  angle,  with  a  strong  element  of  suspense.  The 
characters  are  vividly  drawn,  the  dialogue  poetic  without 
being  stilted.  It  may  be  presented  either  with  simple 
settings  and  a  small  group,  or  as  a  pageant  play  with 
elaborate  scenic  effects,  a  large  cast  and  interpolated 
choruses  and  group  dances.” 

Samuel  French,  Publisher,  Yew  York.  Price,  35  cents. 

Queen  Esth  er  s  Choice.  By  Lucile  Graham. 

A  simple  pageant  for  girls.  There  are  5  principal  char¬ 
acters  with  attendants  and  other  girls.  This  pageant  may 
be  given  with  success  in  any  small  Church  or  Sunday 
School.  Published  by  W.  H.  M.  S.,  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Price,  20  cents. 

Rebekah.  By  Marie  E.  J.  Hobart. 

An  Old  Testament  mystery  play  written  in  three  scenes. 
Minimum  of  18  characters.  This  play  is  very  effective 
when  given  out  of  doors.  The  Old  Testament  story  of 
Rebekah  and  her  romance  is  vividly  related.  Valuable 
suggestions  for  production  are  appended  to  the  play.  Pub¬ 
lished  by  the  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
New  York. 

Ruth ,  the  Loving.  By  Charles  A.  Boyd. 

The  story  of  Ruth  has  always  made  its  appeal  to  young 


130 


.1  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 


people.  This  little  production  may  be  given  effectively  in 
any  young  people’s  organizations  or  in  the  Sunday  School. 
The  publisher,  the  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston,  makes  the  fol¬ 
lowing  comment : 

“The  story  of  Ruth.  Nineteen  characters,  four  acts, 
costumes  and  scenery  simple.  Can  be  given  at  any  time 
but  is  especially  appropriate  for  the  summer  months  and 
the  harvest  season.  Makes  a  beautiful  out-of-doors  produc¬ 
tion.  A  group  of  young  people  could  present  it  as  a  part 
of  the  graduation  exercises  of  the  church  school,  whether 
these  are  held  in  June  or  September.  All  the  parts  may  be 
taken  by  young  people,  although  if  possible  the  ‘elders’ 
should  be  older  men.  The  presentation  of  this  drama  may 
well  follow  the  study  of  the  book  of  Ruth  as  given  in  the 
‘Books  of  Ruth  and  James/  by  Sidney  A.  Weston.  (Inter¬ 
national  Graded  Lesson,  first  year,  senior,  part  4.)”  Paper, 
15  cents. 

The  Sin  of  Ahab.  By  Anna  Jane  Harnwell. 

“A  highly  dramatic  presentation  of  this  Old  Testament 
story.’’  Price,  50  cents. 

The  Star  in  the  East.  By  Anna  Jane  Harnwell. 

This  is  a  biblical  drama  in  4  acts.  There  are  9  male  and 
4  female  characters  and  plays  a  full  evening.  The  pub¬ 
lisher,  Samuel  French,  of  New  York,  gives  this  synopsis  of 
the  play  : 

“This  four -act  drama  is  one  of  the  prize  plays  resulting 
from  the  contest  recently  held  bv  the  Drama  League  of 
America  in  the  hope  of  securing  much  needed  biblical 
scenes  for  use  in  the  religious  schools.  A  drama  of  the 
Book  of  Esther.  It  is  written  in  blank  verse,  and  adheres 
closely  to  the  Bible  narrative.  Mordecai  is  the  star  role  for 
a  man,  but  the  characters  of  Esther,  Vashti  and  the  King 
are  almost  equally  good.  The  very  beautiful  and  dramatic 
setting  of  the  Old  Testament  story  makes  it  quite  as  inter¬ 
esting  as  a  secular  production,  though  it  is  especially  suit¬ 
able  for  church  or  Sunday  School  use.  Settings  as  simple 
or  as  elaborate  as  desired.”  Price,  35  cents. 


Descriptive  List  of  Plays  and  Pageants  131 


Thanksgiving 

The  First  Thanksgiving  Dinner.  By  Marjorie  Benton 
Cooke. 

A  little  Pilgrim  play  designed  for  boys  and  girls  twelve 
to  fourteen  years  of  age.  Arranged  for  seven  boys  and 
three  girls.  Plays  25  minutes.  Published  by  Dramatic 
League  Book  Shop,  29  West  47th  Street,  New  York.  Price, 
35  cents. 

The  Little  PH  grinds  Progress.  By  C.  D.  MacKay. 

A  morality  play  which  may  be  given  by  either  boys  or 
girls.  Pilgrim  costumes  are  used,  and  the  setting  is  very 
simple.  Because  of  its  moral  tone,  it  would  be  very  appro¬ 
priate  in  a  religious  service.  Published  by  Samuel  French, 
New  York. 

A  Pageant  of  Pilgrims.  By  Esther  Willard  Bates. 

The  publisher,  the  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston,  has  this  to 
say :  "A  pageant  setting  forth  the  historical  story  of  the 
Pilgrims,  and  interpreting  the  vital  significance  of  their 
ideals  and  actions  to  all  mankind.  The  meaning  of  the 
pageant  is  made  clear  by  two  symbolic  figures,  Questioner 
and  Interpreter.  The  First  Episode  is  laid  at  the  inn  upon 
the  old  North  Road,  Scrooby,  England.  A  prayer-meeting 
is  broken  up  by  the  arrest  of  Brewster,  and  the  Pilgrims 
resolve  to  leave  Scrooby.  The  Second  Episode  shows  the 
landing  in  America,  and  the  first  treaty  with  the  Indians; 
the  third,  how  the  Pilgrims,  even  in  the  darkest  hour, 
resolved  to  celebrate  Thanksgiving  Day/’  Paper,  75  cents. 
Postage,  5  cents.  Production  fee,  $10 ;  if  no  admission  is 
charged,  $5. 

The  Spirit  of  Thanksgiving .  By  Laura  Wade  Rice. 

This  little  Thanksgiving  service  is  written  for  Junior 
boys  and  girls.  It  is  very  brief.  Playing  time :  about  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes.  It  may  be  given  with  only  a  card  bear¬ 
ing  name  of  country  represented,  or  with  flags,  or  in  cos 


132 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

tuine.  The  leading  character  is  the  Spirit  of  Thanksgiv¬ 
ing,  who  carries  a  sheaf  of  grain  and  a  Bible.  Published 
by  Literature  Headquarters,  W.  M.  S.  (Lutheran),  844 
Drexel  Building,  Philadelphia.  Price,  5  cents. 


A  Few  Helpful  Books 


“The  English  Religious  Drama.”  Katherine  Lee  Bates. 

The  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York. 

“Educational  Dramatics.”  Emma  Sheridan  Fry.  Moffatt, 
Yard  &  Co.,  New  York. 

“Community  Drama  and  Pageantry.”  Beegle-Crawford. 

Yale  University  Press,  New  Haven. 

“How  to  Produce  Amateur  Plays.”  Barrett  H.  Clark. 

Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  Boston. 

“Play  Production  in  America.”  Arthur  Ervin  Crows. 

Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York. 

“Amateur  and  Educational  Dramatics.”  Hilliard-McCor- 
mick-Oglesby.  The  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York. 

“The  Kingdom  of  the  Child.”  Alice  Minnie  Herts  Heni- 
ger.  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  New  York. 

“The  Dramatization  of  Bible  Stories.”  Elizabeth  Erwin 
Miller.  University  of  Chicago  Press,  Chicago. 
“Mission  Study  Through  Educational  Dramatics.”  Helen 
L.  Wilcox.  Missionary  Education  Movement,  150 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

“Pageantry  and  Dramatics  in  Beligious  Education.” 

Meredith.  The  Abingdon  Press,  New  York. 
Dramatic  Sketches  of  Mission  Fields.  Helen  L.  Wilcox. 
Missionary  Education  Movement,  150  Fifth  Avenue, 
New  York. 

Pamphlets  edited  by  Norman  E.  Richardson,  The  Abing¬ 
don  Press,  New  York: 

“The  Mother  as  Playfellow.” 

“The  Dramatic  Instinct  in  Children.” 

“The  Use  of  Dolls  in  Child  Training.” 

“Dramatics  in  the  Home.” 

“Story-Telling  in  the  Home.” 

133 


134 


A  Guide  to  Religious  Pageantry 

“How  to  Produce  Children’s  Plays.”  Constance  D’Arcy 
Maekay.  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York. 

“Costumes  and  Scenery  for  Amateurs.”  Constance  D’Arcy 
Maekay.  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York. 

“Making  Missions  Peal,”  Jay  S.  Stowell.  The  Abingdon 
Press,  New  York. 

“The  Mediaeval  Stage,”  E.  K.  Chambers.  Clarendon  Press, 
Oxford,  England. 

“English  Miracle  Plays.”  A.  W.  Pollard.  Home  Univer¬ 
sity  Library. 

“'English  Drama.”  Felix  E.  Schelling.  E.  P.  Dutton  & 
Co.,  New  York. 

“Corpus  Christi  Pageants  in  England.”  M.  L.  Spencer. 

Baker  &  Taylor  Co.,  New  York. 

“English  Pageantry.”  Robert  Withington.  Harvard  Uni¬ 
versity  Press. 

“Dramatized  Bible  Stories  for  Young  People.”  Mary  M. 

Russell.  Geo.  H.  Doran  &  Co.,  New  York. 

“Bible  Plays  for  Children.”  May  Stein  Soble.  J.  T.  White 
&  Co.,  New  York. 

“The  New  Movement  in  the  Theater.”  Sheldon  Cheney. 

Mitchell  Kennedy,  .New  York. 

“The  Open  Air  Theater.”  Sheldon  Cheney.  Mitchell 
Kennedy,  New  York. 

“Festivals  and  Plays.”  Percival  Chubb.  Harper  & 
Bros.,  New  York. 

“The  Theatre  of  To-morrow.”  Kenneth  McGowan.  Boni, 
Liveright,  Inc.,  New  York. 

“The  Art  of  Theatrical  Make  Up.”  Cavendish  Morton. 
The  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York;  Adam  and  Charles 
Black,  London. 

“The  Technique  of  Pageantry.”  Linwood  Taft.  A.  S. 
Barnes  &  Co.,  New  York. 


Date  Due 

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